


Stray

by reaperlight



Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Death Note (Anime & Manga), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Venom (Comics), Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Carl Brock's A+ Parenting, Carnage Is His Own Warning, Crack Treated Seriously, Crossover, Dark Comedy, Depression, Don't copy to another site, Don't repost, Drama, Epic Friendship, Established Relationship, Fake Character Death, Families of Choice, Family Feels, Fix-It, Fluff, Found Family, Found Family AU, Glacially Slow Burn, Guilt, Human Disasters and the Monsters Who Love Them, Human/Monster Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Torture, Major Character Undeath, Misunderstandings, Moral Ambiguity, Multi, Nightmare Fuel, Non-Linear Narrative, References to Depression, Reunions, Roommates, Secrets, Slow Burn, Smut, Suicidal Thoughts, Superpowers, Symbiotic Relationship, TFW you fake your death to avoid feelings, The Death Eraser, Trauma, Trust Issues, fine I'll write it myself, i just want these assholes to be happy okay, whines why does this fic not already exist in a form in which i can read it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2020-12-24 21:33:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 37,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21106346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reaperlight/pseuds/reaperlight
Summary: After Light realizes how easy it would be to kill his rival and the one human whose mind he’d ever truly admired, a late night conversation with his Shinigami causes him to rethink everything. But what was he to do with himself now that he’d strayed from his chosen path? Well the answer seemed obvious--Light Yagami had to die.Meanwhile things were just calming down in San Francisco. Sure, the threat of this Kira character was making Eddie a bit anxious given Venom’s very illegal diet but they’d since learned that Venom could and would save him from most forms of death.The problems begin again because Eddie always had a weakness for strays. Be it nasty cats (even if Mr. Belvedere always liked Anne better and had remained with her when they split up because Eddie couldn’t take care of himself most of the time and once  killed a cactus by forgetting to water it), alien parasites (sorry, not a parasite, really it’s a term of endearment, I said I was sorry), or a new kid in town with a dark secret (what the f--).





	1. You Alright There, Kid?

**San Francisco, Now**

Eddie leaned against the alley wall, rubbing his eyes tiredly as he took just a moment to regain his bearings after foiling a purse snatching and just narrowly managing to convince Venom not to devour the purse snatchers. 

Eddie wasn’t too keen on eating people anyway, least of all with the current climate… and the Kira phenomenon. It was dangerous for both of them and they didn’t really _need_ to hunt people anymore. Dr. Dan had discovered that Venom could get what they needed if they just scarfed down enough chocolate bars. 

But Venom still enjoyed the thrill of the hunt. 

And if he was being completely honest with himself, so did Eddie. 

Really, they were doing the city a favor by cleaning up the streets. 

Still… 

_You know context matters, man,_ Eddie continued to debate with his irate symbiote. _We agreed, not all humans are meals on legs._

**_But they were thieves, Eddie. Bad guys! Like you said—_**

“They were _kids,_ V. We don’t eat kids!” Eddie hissed. 

Venom didn’t respond for a moment but Eddie felt their confusion and… 

Riot was on their mind just then for some reason. 

_V, what’s that—?_

Venom quickly shut him out. 

**_Hungry, Eddie,_** the symbiote sulked. 

Eddie sighed, “Fine, let’s just… let’s get you some chocolate and tater tots and maybe you’ll calm down,” Venom bristled slightly under his skin at the jingling of the shop door. It wasn’t enough to hurt them but certain frequencies still proved irritating. 

“Hey, Mrs. C.” 

Eddie was always surprised they were still welcome in her shop even after they ate a dude in front of her. She was surprisingly chill about the whole thing. Eddie had avoided the shop for a while afterwards out of awkwardness until he ran into Mrs. Chen on the street and she demanded to know where he’d been and if he was eating right and no, he shouldn’t be shopping at Liu’s, he gauged his prices horribly. And yes, he and his parasite were doing well and no the Parasite doesn’t like to be called a parasite… and Mrs. Chen had determined that Venom was a “good boy” and it was good that he’d found someone because he needed someone to take care of his dumb ass… 

So Eddie had returned to shopping at Mrs. Chen’s shop despite knowing he’d been an accessory to homicide right over there, by that counter… 

**_We ate a BAD GUY, Eddie,_** Venom reminded, **_We’re a hero._**

_I… Of course, darling._

**“Hey, Mrs—”** Venom began to greet her too but quickly went quiet when they noticed they weren’t alone in the shop which was odd for this time of night. 

“Hey… Uh, you alright there, kid?” 

It wasn’t unusual to see people down on their luck in this part of town but he hadn’t seen this kid before. There was just something about him—he somehow seemed out of place and yet he felt hauntingly familiar. 

Perhaps it was because he looked like he’d just been put through hell. 

That was, as that new photog intern at the paper said, ‘a whole ass mood.’ (What the hell was his name? Patrick? Pedro? Parker? Oh well, it probably wasn't important.) 

The stranger seemed to be around the same age as but much more serious than Pedro Parker from the office. He was nicely dressed (all in black, but that wasn’t at all unusual for a… teenager? Young person? Even if the suit gave him an air of maturity. He still looked young but then with those eyes… he looked liked he’d seen some serious shit. 

_Who are you?_

The kid looked disheveled and weary and… far too young to look so run down, looking like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Eddie knew he was hardly the smartest guy around but he was pretty good at reading people and it was clear from just a glance that the kid was having a bad day. 

Maybe he'd just come back from a job interview? 

Eddie, unfortunately, could relate. 

But again, that would be kind of odd for this time of night. 

It all began in the awkward moment that he and the bad day kid reached for the same chocolate bar at the same time. Eddie realized he probably wouldn’t have noticed him otherwise. 

Eddie took one look at the kid’s wan face and withdrew his hand, despite Venom’s protests. 

“You can have it, kid.” 

**_Eddie!_**

Eddie cringed, knowing he would have to do some quick mental persuasion to keep Venom from manifesting and snatching it up with their tendrils. 

_We can get some more later, love. Or maybe… What do you think about looking into the Gambino’s tonight?_ Eddie bargained, knowing V would find the idea of fresh meat to be just as appealing. 

**_Yesssss!_** Venom hissed, already drooling in anticipation of devouring mobsters. **_Tonight, we eat Italian!_**

*** 

Light startled to realize that the stranger was talking to him. He was an older man, white—the teen chewed his lip nervously at that detail—he had selected this part of town because it seemed to have a larger Asian population. He thought he was less likely to stand out here. (Had he miscalculated? It wouldn’t be the first time…) He was further thrown by the way the man addressed him. He was Light Yagami—he was _once_ Light Yagami, once the son of the Chief of Police, _once_ a model student, _once_ the top ranked student in all of Japan, _once_ part-time detective and consultant on the Kira case and (provided there weren’t any more unfortunate complications) soon to be God of the New World. He hadn’t been “just a kid” in a very long time. 

_I should get used to it. I need to be a nobody here._

** _Ah, Light—you know you’ll never be a nobody to me._ **

Light cracked a slight smile at the words of encouragement. 

It was sweet. And he’d be sure to tell Ryuk he appreciated it later but for now he needed to not act suspicious in public. Now he needed to focus on looking normal in front of a concerned stranger. 

Light tried to discreetly study the other in order to figure out just what he was dealing with here—he was a big man with dirty blonde hair, unshaven, dressed all in black, and wearing what appeared to be a leather jacket with a white spider decal on the sleeve. 

What was that? Some otaku thing? A gang symbol? 

Light was weary but didn’t really have enough information to judge… 

The man didn’t seem to be a bad sort but Light knew well enough that looks could be deceiving. 

Light tried not to be obvious about looking above his head. 

It was always good to be prepared. 

*** 

The kid was staring at him. 

Well, he wasn’t trying to be obvious about it, but Eddie wondered if Venom had shifted around and been noticed… but no, that wasn’t it. 

Venom was being very well-behaved this trip (_suspiciously_ well-behaved). It took Eddie too long to realize that Venom too was focused on the kid and it wasn’t just his feelings of concern bleeding through. 

Eddie fidgeted in embarrassment and wondered if this was someone he was supposed to know. 

He wasn’t sure now if the feeling was coming from himself or Venom but… there was something familiar about this kid… 

“Do I… have we met?” 

The kid blinked. “Uh, no, sorry, I'm new in town… Sorry.” 

_Shit_, he hadn’t meant to say that much but Light found something about the other to just be … disarming. Hell, maybe it was just a friendly face, another human voice... 

_Get it together!_ He scolded himself as he felt Ryuk’s worry bleeding through but his companion stayed mercifully silent as Light tried to sort himself out. 

He was stronger than this. 

_They_ were stronger than this. 

*** 

“So you paying today?” Mrs. Chen interjected firmly. 

Eddie was about to snark back when Mrs. Chen began her usual cursing in Mandarin and the kid responded, also in Mandarin. 

The language sounded beautiful to Eddie’s ears which just went to show how little he knew when Mrs. Chen scolded the kid a moment later “Do not try that again. Your words sound like a cat who wants to fuck. Stick to English. Or _Japanese._” 

“Hey, kid, don’t take it personally,” Eddie attempted to pacify the fuming teen “She’s like that with everyone. And I’m sure you did better than me.” 

“Yes, but you’re hopeless, Eddie,” Mrs. Chen tsked. 

Eddie laughed. 

*** 

“Hey… So uh, you really alright there, kid?” 

Light ran an awkward hand through his mussed chestnut brown hair and self-consciously tried to straighten himself out when he found himself under the scrutiny of strangers. 

Dammit, he was trying _not_ to stand out. 

It was odd—this man’s assumptions, his _presumptions_ should annoy the hell out of him. And yet, somehow, after the craziness of the day he’d just had Light found the honest concern of a stranger to be something of a relief. Here was someone who didn’t know who he was or what he’d been accused of or that he was supposed to be... Here was someone _not_ trying to kill him… 

_Damn, I just jinxed it, didn’t I? _

** _Uh… You should probably answer him, Light. You do realize time doesn’t stop when you stop to think?_ **

_Oh, right…_ “Yeah… uh, I’m good, thanks,” Light insisted before making a hasty retreat from the store and the scrutiny of the elders’ worried gazes. 

_“Cut it out,”_ Light hissed as Ryuk snickered in his head. 

**_Hey, it’s just you’re usually quicker on your feet than that, Light-o… are you really okay?_**

_“What do you think, Ryuk? I was dead! Give me a break!” _

__

Ryuk stopped laughing then and Light immediately felt his companion’s regret.**_ …Yeah. Sorry._**

“Eh, don’t worry about it. I… _I’m sorry,_ Ryuk, I didn’t mean to snap at you. I really am grateful for all you did for me. Without you I wouldn’t even be here.” 

*** 

“Thanks, Mrs. C!” 

“Keep him out of trouble,” Mrs. Chen admonished as she pressed the receipt into his hand. 

“Don’t worry, Mrs. C., Venom won’t be any trouble.” 

“I was talking to Venom.” 

Eddie felt his unease grow as he left the store when Venom didn’t laugh at him as they typically would when Mrs. Chen was roasting him. 

“You okay there, V?” Eddie felt Venom’s disquiet as if it were his own. 

**_There’s something about that… kid. I don’t know how to explain it. He feels dangerous,”_** Venom warned. 

“He’s just a kid, V.” 

** _Maybe, but…_ **

“Venom?” 

**_But I sensed something, Eddie!_**

“You sense something, like… _what?” _

**_Like… like Riot._**

“You think he’s… he’s a host?” 

_**I don’t know, maybe? I wasn’t sure because… it doesn’t feel quite right. It’s like… something wrong, something… dead. That's it, he feels dead, Eddie.**_

“So, uh… you think he might be like a… what? A zombie or something?” Eddie snorted in disbelief while raising his arms and making the vague clawing motions of the shambling undead. 

**_Zombies?!_** Venom repeated in alarm. **_But zombies eat brains, right? That means less for us!_**

Eddie shook his head, _Zombies aren’t real, love. _

**_Are you sure, Eddie? ‘Cause that kid kinda smells dead._**

Eddie frowned, he certainly hadn’t noticed that but Venom was more sensitive about these kinds of things. “I guess it can’t hurt to check that out. But not… hey! I said we could check this out, not scare the crap out of him!” Eddie scolded as Venom surged out of his pores. “We don’t want him seeing us or to know we’re following him. This requires stealth.” 

**_“We can do stealthy,”_** Venom insisted as he completely subsumed Eddie—the symbiote shimmered, camouflaging them so that they were effortlessly blending in with the background of this concrete jungle. 

_ Hey! You never told me you could do that!_

**_Well… you didn’t ask,_** Venom snickered. 

Venom crept along the side of the building; unseen and unheard as they followed the strange young human that reeked of death. 

The symbiote’s acute sense of hearing picked up some of what the boy was muttering to himself. 

_“Cut it out! …I was dead! Give me a break! …_ Don’t worry about it… I’m sorry… didn’t mean to snap at you. I really am grateful for all you did for me. Without you I wouldn’t even be here and—” 

Venom froze as both he and Eddie watched as something dark slithering down the young human’s arm. 

The kid definitely had a symbiote. 

*** 

**Tokyo, Before **

The God of Death gazed upon his human with fascination and something dangerously approaching concern. He wasn’t supposed to care. It wasn’t like him to get attached to a human. 

He’d just come down to the human world to have a bit of fun, and yet when he watched Light stew with clenched jaw and worried crease in his brow, Ryuk had begun to feel odd twisty feelings deep in the core of his being which he couldn’t begin to explain away. 

And while this whole situation with the girl had been funny at first but now… Ryuk would hate for his fun to come to a premature end because of it. 

Light gritted his teeth as Misa skipped out of his house but unfortunately not yet out of his life... 

Misa and Rem’s threats rebounded in his head trapping him. 

But also trapping L. 

He should have been happy about _that_ at least and yet, somehow, he wasn’t. 

"It _can't_ be that easy! Dammit L, and things were just getting good!” 

**“She... She's right, you know,”** Ryuk commented, off-hand from his favorite place, lounging on Light’s bed. He was far more comfy here than anything he’d ever known in the barren wastes of the Shinigami Realm, it was cozy, the bed smelled vaguely of his human, and Light had left him a basket full of apples on the bed stand. 

Light shot him an annoyed look. 

**"Well, not about you falling in love with her eventually, that's beyond ridiculous that she thinks she can just force herself—"** Ryuk growled slightly at the very thought.

Light raised his eyebrows at that because that was an odd reaction for his demonic companion—it almost sounded like he cared. Maybe he was just as annoyed as Light was that L would die so quickly, ruining both their fun—matching wits with the detective had been the first truly challenging thing Light had ever done in his life and he knew his Shinigami had been just as bored as him before all this. 

**"I mean she's right about how to kill a Shinigami."**

_Just what is he getting at...? Misa said that the only way to kill a Shinigami was to make them fall in love with a human—No…_

"…Oh? …Something you want to tell me, Ryuk?” Light smirked. “So, how about it? Are you in love with me?" He teased while tossing him an apple to soften the blow just in case Ryuk took offense. 

Of course he wasn’t. Light knew it was unlikely, at least. For all he seemed to enjoy playing in the human world Ryuk had repeatedly insisted he was neutral in this game. Even when he helped him, he only ever really got involved when his apples were on the line. 

For a tense moment his bedroom was suddenly, oppressively silent but for the sound of the apple getting caught in large black talons. 

**"...I'm not dying for you,"** Ryuk finally growled. 

Light froze. _Oh, shit!_ Ryuk sounded really angry. That hadn't been his intention. 

A hasty apology was on the tip of his tongue when Light really _looked_ at his Shinigami. He couldn't fully conceal his shock as he analyzed the monster's body language.

Ryuk almost seemed... _embarrassed?_

The monster wouldn't look him in the eye… 

_Oh, no way... _

Ryuk wasn't angry at him for his presumption. 

Ryuk was angry at _himself._

"That's... that's not a no," Light rasped out and forced the tremor down when his Shinigami snapped his fangs in his direction in warning. "Ryuk..._ I had no idea you—_” 

Light tried to inch closer but Ryuk gently held him at arm’s length, still refusing to look at him. 

**"…You don't have to pretend, Light,”** Ryuk hissed. 

He knew Light didn't find him attractive. He had teased him about his looks on numerous occasions and frankly it was insulting that Light thought he could just manipulate him like he manipulated all of the humans around him into getting what he wanted and then throw him away... Ryuk was mad that he might just end up doing it anyway... 

Mad at himself for being such a fool, for falling for a human (dammit, he’d never had this problem before!) but not mad at Light. He couldn't stay mad at Light, even when he wanted to his (_cute_) human... he always knew what sort of human Light was—he could no more blame him for it any more than he would blame a fellow Shinigami for killing—it was just his nature. 

Because Ryuk still couldn't look him in the eye, he missed the look of genuine hurt that flashed across the young man's face. 

**“And this isn’t about me, anyway,”** Ryuk insisted. **“This is about you.”**

_"Me?"_

**"Yes. You know how I told you that you'd make a worthy Shinigami? I guess all I’m saying is… you might wanna look out for that.”**

Light scoffed, unsure of what his Shinigami was getting at. “You know I have no interest in Misa, Ryuk. I'd sooner kill her than—” 

**“I didn’t mean _Misa,_”** Ryuk snorted. **“…You can't kill her anyway,”** Ryuk grumbled. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know Rem’s threat—” 

**”Oh, no, it’s not that. Or… not _just_ that. As long as a human is possessed by a Shinigami, that Shinigami owns their death. They can only die when the Shinigami writes their name.**

“Wait... you mean that you… Then Rem can't kill me? Is that you're saying?” 

**”Yeah, I mean, I think that's how things are supposed to go. You are supposed to be _my kill_ under our laws. But...”**

_“But…”_

**“I never tested it. And Rem is of a higher rank then me. I don't know what happens if she breaks the rules. But I do know that if the Shinigami possessing the human dies or the human gives up the notebook then that human is no longer protected.”**

When Ryuk dared to look back at his human, Light had that familiar scheming look on his face that Ryuk found so fascinating. “So if I could make Rem kill herself, then I could kill Misa. Or if I just convince her to give up the notebook—” 

Ryuk felt his fanged maw fall open in shock as he watched Light plotting, already making use of the information he gave him to ensure Misa's demise... 

**"By Death, _I love you,_"** Ryuk blurted out suddenly to the shock of both of them. 

"...You should take your own advice, Ryuk," Light said stiffly. "I don't want you dying either." 

**"Yeah, yeah cause then you'd be vulnerable to Rem…”**

Light huffed and tossed his bangs, "No because I'd miss you, _you ass._" 

**“…You don't have to say that, Light. Just because...**

“It's not just because—” 

**“I know it's L you want,”** the Shinigami snapped, causing the young man to actually give a start. 

_”What!”_

**“And... And that's okay—”**

“Ryuk… L is my _enemy—_” 

**“But you do care about him,”** the Shinigami observed. **“Come now, Light. I wasn’t formed yesterday. I’ve seen the way you two dance around each other.”**

“That...” Light swallowed and looked away. “That doesn't mean I can't care about you too.” 

**“That's, that’s not a no…”** Ryuk said, echoing Light’s earlier words and startling a laugh from the teen. 

“We’re a mess, aren’t we?” Light shook his head. “It’s irrelevant anyway, L will die soon. Rem will see to that… And then I’ll claim my perfect victory—” Light couldn’t quite contain his deflated sigh. 

**“Right… but if this is really what you wanted than shouldn’t you be happier?”**

“He _is_ my enemy, Ryuk. I have to kill him. Otherwise he’s going to kill me. I just… I hadn’t expected that to work,” Light admitted. “I was just hoping to convince Rem that if L caught Misa it wouldn’t be my fault. She expects me somehow to protect her but she must know she’s asking the impossible. Misa… She’s so careless and stupid! She’s _going_ to get caught—it’s only a question of _when._ I never… I didn’t think she’d agree to kill L—_just like that?!_” 

**“You don't want this,”** Ryuk pressed in barely a whisper. 

“What I want hardly matters, does it?” Light snapped bitterly. 

**_“It does,”_** the Shinigami insisted. 

Light snorted at that. 

**“It does. _To me._ Tell me?”**

“Why? So you can mock me? And it seems you’ve already figured it out anyway.” 

**“But I want to hear it from you. I won’t mock you, Light. Pinkie swear.”** Ryuk grinned, holding up his smallest claw. 

That actually drew a slight grin from Light as he carefully entwined his pinky finger around the monster’s talon. 

It didn’t escape Light’s notice how Ryuk looked away, bashfully. 

It seemed Ryuk had it bad and Light felt stupid for not noticing this before. 

He could use this and he would if it meant getting out alive, or at least as much as Ryuk would allow himself to be used. He had to tread carefully here. Ryuk was his protection, the one meant to kill him, and… also the closest thing he had to a friend. 

Using him didn’t really sit right with him even if it was the logical thing to do. 

Vestiges of when he was innocent, he supposed. Light’s father had taught him to be honest and honorable—principles that Light still tried to follow whenever possible despite who and what he was. 

They were honorable rules that ill-prepared him for such a dishonorable world. 

But Light could adapt. 

And with the power of the Death Note that Ryuk had bestowed upon him he could force the world to accept both him and his father’s rules. 

But Ryuk had been there for him since the beginning. Watched him grow and evolve in his strategies. He told Ryuk everything. So in a way betraying him would be like betraying himself… which Light was also more than prepared to do if it meant furthering his plans. But still… 

Dammit, Ryuk knew him! He knew how important what he was doing was. How he was prepared to sacrifice anything and everything to get it. He should have known better than to dangle something like that in front of him when he was desperate. 

Did he _want_ to die for him? 

Light knew he was being sentimental but he would rather not part ways with his Shinigami. 

It would be rather lonely without him. 

Light sighed. “I don't want L to die… or… _or you._ But… but what am I supposed to do, Ryuk? He’s going to kill me if he catches me. And Misa or Rem will kill me if I don't give them…” 

The teen let out an enraged growl almost worthy of a Shinigami. 

“You're right, I don't want this. I don't want _any of this._ I don't want to be stuck with Misa. And L... L deserves better than to be killed like that. But I don’t know what to do, Ryuk. There. Is that what you wanted to hear? No matter what I do I’ll probably end up dead and then everything I’ve done to try and help the world would be for _nothing._” 

**"…Maybe that's the answer."**

Light rounded on his Shinigami; eyes flashing crimson with betrayal. Just when he'd been starting to think Ryuk cared— 

**"I don't mean, like, actually... Okay, yeah but not _permanently—_ Just… If you let me explain…**

“Alright, I’m listening…” 

**“I have an idea. But the problem is we can only do this once and you'll have to trust me.”**

“…What did you have in mind?” 

**“Here, just let me…”**

Light felt his brows rise again as Ryuk hastily made an intricate motion with his claws and brightly burning runes appeared briefly in the air and disappeared and Light was abruptly reminded that his companion was an actual, literal God and not just a monstrous brute that hogged his bed. 

Light suddenly felt a spike of apprehension as the God of Death than reached into one of the pouches hanging from his belt and pulled out a tiny, innocuous-looking piece of rubber. 

**“Uh… Sorry about that, just had to ward the room against listeners above...I would get in _so much trouble_ if the Old Man knew I still had this... This little sucker is called a Death Eraser."**

An eraser. 

For a deadly notebook. 

Light could almost laugh at the absurdity if not for the heaviness of what was being discussed. 

**"It's, as I said highly forbidden for a Shinigami to have. Normally it's not of much use but for your situation it just might be what you need. It gives ya more options. You could say, kill L and bring him back or—”**

"—Or I could fake my own death! Ryuk, that's brilliant!" 

Ryuk was taken aback when Light was suddenly hugging him. His human had never been so open before with him. Not even when comparing favorite ways to kill using the Death Note or playing Mario Kart. But then Ryuk had never helped him to this extent before either... 

"You're a _life-saver!_" 

**_"Take that back!"_** The God of Death rumbled at the insult. 

Light laughed, as he leaned in, pressing his cheek against the soft feathers on the monster's shoulder. "Sorry, sorry. Just...what I meant is... thank you." 

Ryuk froze as Light leaned in closer. 

Was this really happening? 

**"Light, you don't have to, uh—"**

"But I _want_ to." 

Ryuk reluctantly broke away. Ryuk had never broken this rule before. He didn’t know what the penalties were, what the limits were, or what was permitted. He wouldn’t be able to help Light if he disintegrated or something. 

Ryuk was somewhat surprised at the look of disappointment that flashed across the teen’s face. 

It seemed he really was sincere. 

**“I-I can’t help you if I get dusted,”** Ryuk croaked out in a harsh whisper. 

“Aren’t your… uh, _wards_ still up?” Light asked in a soft voice. Ryuk swallowed. No, as improbable as it seemed he didn’t think Light was faking it, or the way he was gazing at him with half-lidded eyes… 

Or at least Ryuk didn’t want to believe Light was faking it. 

And what would he gain by it, really? He already had his help.

**“Yeah, but it’s not a guarantee when it comes to the King and we only have one shot at this.”**

“…You’re right. We… we can't screw this up,” Light muttered, pacing with nervous energy. “So I guess that means…” Light swallowed in apprehension, allowing for a rare display of vulnerability. “We're writing my death in the notebook,” the teen rubbed his chin in an attempt to appear his usual scheming and brilliant self rather than terrified at what they were going to do. He had to do it. Now that the option was before him, there was no question, really. The plan they were forming was the only way out that freed him from Misa’s control, spared his favorite frenemy detective, and protected his family from the dishonor of being associated with Kira. 

“So we can control the circumstances and time of death... Then I guess it would be best if it happens in front of both L and Misa, that way they could see for themselves that I am dead. But I don't want Misa getting L's name..." 

**"So how about I write in that he's taken precautions due to his current case?"**

"Yeah, that shouldn't be impossible, given L's personality... Damn, I hope this works and I don't just end up collapsing forty seconds from now." 

**“Okay, so say ‘at 9 AM Light Yagami arrives at Touhou university where he encounters both his favorite candy-loving, insomniac detective that he has a crush on..."** Light cringed slightly at the description but nevertheless nodded his approval. Thanks to his previous experiments, Light was fairly certain that should be both possible and specific enough for the notebook to take effect without naming names and causing additional deaths. **"...and the girl he's currently dating--"**

Light cringed again. "I’m afraid that’s not specific enough, Ryuk. I'm currently dating six other girls to throw off L, remember?" 

**“Overcompensating much?”** Ryuk teased. 

“Oh, _shut up,_” Light scolded but wore a sheepish grin. 

**“So, uh ‘…The girl he is currently dating because said girl is forcing him to date her because she’s threatening to murder any girl around him and because said girl’s Shinigami is threatening his own life.’ That should be specific enough, right? Okay… ‘The detective has taken precautions to conceal his identity due to his current case so his name is concealed from Shinigami eyes.’”** Ryuk swallowed and forced himself to write the agreed upon cause of death. **“‘ Light Yagami dies of a heart attack at exactly 9:13 AM.’”**

“I don’t suppose we could make them rethink their life choices in regards to Kira?” Light sighed, “The notebook can’t do the impossible, right?” 

Ryuk's ever grinning lips shrunk a bit in what Light had come to know was his Shinigami's approximation of a frown. **“The notebook might not even know what we were referring to if I just wrote Kira, huh?”**

"Maybe… ‘Makes everyone present rethink their life-choices, especially in regards to Light Yagami.’ Do you think that’s specific enough?” Light asked and then looked up to regard his Shinigami and was perplexed by the look of horror on the monster’s face. “…What? My name is already going in the book, right?" 

**"Yeah..."** Ryuk swallowed, throat suddenly drier than usual, as if he'd just swallowed a storm's worth of sand. **"Okay…. So ‘Light Yagami's death has a profound effect on everyone present and makes them rethink their life-choices. As Light Yagami collapses, the detective catches Light and he dies in his arms—’”**

_"Why the hell did you write that?!"_ Light demanded, incensed. 

**"Oh, forgive me for wanting you to make it out of this intact. I didn't want you hitting your head and getting brain damaged! And I figured you'd rather have L catch you than Misa. And... and if this doesn't work—”**

“It will work, right? You said…” 

**“Yeah, it should work. But you know it's damn risky! Anything to do with the notebook is. And on the off-chance it doesn’t, who would you rather be the last face you see?"**

_"Yours,"_ Light snapped. 

The Shinigami was taken aback. **"Be serious, Light."**

"I am." 

**"…I can't catch you. You know why I can't—the whole point of faking your death is to prove your innocence and give you a fresh start. It would be more than suspicious if it looked like you started floating—"**

Light sighed and wrung his hand through his hair. "I know…” 

**“Then what's the problem?”**

“It's just... you at least know that this isn’t supposed to be… _permanent._ He doesn’t… I don't like doing that to him. Even if I doubt he feels like I do.” 

Ryuk gently squeezed his shoulder and Light felt the Death Note begin to take effect. 

It was an odd experience, like no longer being fully in control of his body all the while knowing he would go about his routine as normal, knowing he would die at 9:13 tomorrow and there was nothing he could do about it. 

**“Good night, Light-o,”** Ryuk rumbled softly as he turned off the lights. 

Ryuk had ensured in that carefully worded paragraph that Light would sleep soundly and be well-rested for the nightmare that awaited them tomorrow. 


	2. I Really Don't Know Where I'm Going

**San Francisco, Now**

Of all the rotten luck—a movie theater must have just emptied out nearby. 

_“Dammit!”_ Eddie cursed when they lost sight of the kid thanks to the crowds and traffic. 

**_Eddie… I think you should calm down._**

“You are seriously telling me to calm down when there’s an unknown symbiote loose in our city?” 

**_Oh, so he’s not just a kid now?_**

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

**_I’m pretty sure they’re both just kids, Eddie._**

“Huh?”

Venom manifested, serpentine and outside his body. 

Despite sharing a body and being able to hear each other’s thoughts, sometimes it was easier communicating face to face when they needed to get their point across. 

** “Both the symbiote and the human are young,”** Venom insisted. **“Even if the symbiote feels wrong… it is, as you said, just a kid.”**

“Oh…”

Venom shrunk down, forming into the shape of a black leather jacket again before Eddie entered a nearby coffee shop but didn’t submerge completely, opting to take the form of an earpiece so that after Eddie ordered them a hot chocolate they could continue talking without undo scrutiny. 

“ …Where the hell did he even get a symbiote?” Eddie muttered as he nursed his mug of cocoa. “I mean… we stopped the invasion? None of the others survived the Life Foundation.” 

**“Maybe… He kind of feels like Riot but not… _Oh!_”**

“What?”

**“Riot must have spawned,”** Venom said darkly. 

“Wha--?! Riot? _Spawn?!_” Eddie sputtered, brain short circuiting pondered the possible mechanics of that. “Uh… That… that’s bad, right? When did they? How?” 

**“Well, Riot was forcefully separated from their host during the fight. That would have started the spawning process… Uh… it’s not what you’re thinking. It’s not like… _us time._ My kind reproduces asexually. That is we’re self-cloning. Any genetic variation comes from our bonding with new hosts. I am different because of you, Eddie. Alone I am nothing.”**

“Oh.” 

**“So it is possible that… during the fight… if they survived long enough.”**

“Venom… So were you. We were forcefully separated too.” 

**_“Uh…”_**

“Wait, V… Are you…?” 

**“…Not anymore.”**

“…Not?” 

Venom shrunk away inside of him in shame and despair. **_I’m sorry, Eddie. I didn’t want to worry you._**

“Venom?” 

** _It was stillborn._ **

“Oh, V, buddy, I’m so sorry,” Eddie said with feeling. _When could this have happened?_ He was experiencing a rollercoaster of emotions and not all of them strictly his for all V seemed to be trying to keep a wall up between them at the moment. 

Eddie was curious but he didn’t want to press—it was obviously a sore subject. But at the same time Eddie was absolutely dumbfounded that this could even happen—they were literally sharing a body but he hadn’t even noticed his partner was pregnant?! 

**_Uh… it was while you were doing your ‘you thing, not a we thing,’_** Venom confessed when they picked up on Eddie’s confusion. 

Eddie felt his horror rising as it slowly dawned on him what Venom was referring to. “Wait, you mean…_Kasady?_” 

** _I didn’t want to bother you when it could be dangerous for you—_ **

Eddie messaged his forehead before taking another sip of his cocoa in order to calm them both. 

“You should have told me, V.” 

**_I didn’t know how! You humans always get weird about reproduction and spawning._**

Eddie barely managed to swallow the hot chocolate without choking on it. “But… How come I didn’t notice?” 

_Surely there should have been some rather conspicuous goo out of that. Unless…_

Eddie paled. “Wait, was that when Kasady attacked us, attacked _me_ and…? Oh Jesus, please don’t tell me it’s in Kasady?!” 

**_I--It was stillborn. It’s dead, Eddie!_**

“God, I hope—I mean, _someone like that…_” 

**_…Not a good match for our offspring. I agree,_** Venom turned pensive. **_This symbiote… they might not be like Riot… Maybe, if we taught them right…? That’s how humans do it, right?_**

“Yeah…” _Theoretically._ Eddie thought bitterly. His own father had not really provided a good template for how _that_ was supposed to go… “But do we really want to take that chance?” 

Eddie felt a flash of hurt coming from his partner and he belatedly realized he’d been insensitive. 

“I…I ‘m sorry.”

This new symbiote was a potential threat, yes, but maybe they weren’t entirely evil. Maybe Venom was right. If they found them they could teach them not to eat people… at least not innocent people...

** _No, Eddie I understand. Perhaps you’re right… You know Riot was my spawn too._ **

This time Eddie couldn't stop from choking on his cocoa. 

** _Eddie?_ **

“_Riot?!_ I… I did not know that. Was that… God, was that why he was so _weird_ about you?” 

**_Riot thought I was an embarrassment. Yes._**

“Because you’re, uh, _monogamous?_” 

Venom had shown him why he was considered a loser on his home planet. How he’d been labeled deviant, _mad_ for not wanting to burn through hosts like the others. 

“That’s nothing to be embarrassed about, love. You know I rather prefer you the way you are.” Eddie cringed as something belatedly occurred to him. “Jeez, I hope that other symbiote is like you and isn’t hurting that kid.” 

Eddie cursed to himself for not thinking of that first. Just because _his_ relationship with his symbiote was good didn’t mean it would be the same for everyone. 

_Maria…_

Eddie felt Venom’s worry and guilt then when it mixed with his own. 

Maria. Eddie’s friend. Venom hadn’t meant to kill her. They had done their best to keep her alive even though they hadn’t been at all compatible and they had been starving at the time. But Maria had already been starving too. And then she had died—despite their best efforts she hadn’t been able to survive the Life Foundation’s cruel experiments. 

They’d both been kept in a cage much colder than an inhabitant of Earth could really hope to survive in with no food and while the cold hadn't bothered Venom the atmosphere of this planet burned them without a host. So it was in their own best interest to keep the host alive as long as they could. So they had tried, _very hard,_ despite their own hunger. 

They still weren’t sure just what had ultimately killed her—Venom nibbling a bit too much on the wrong organ, his suddenly jumping hosts, the shock of the sudden temperature change when Eddie had freed her from her cage—any combination thereof could have been what ultimately— 

_The Life Foundation,_ Eddie thought fiercely. _The Life Foundation killed her._

**_…Yes._** Venom agreed. 

And that was that—Eddie was right, it was better not to dwell on it. 

“We… we don’t know what this other symbiote is like yet. We should probably figure out if they’re a bad guy or not before making any judgments. Maybe they won’t be like Riot. I mean they seemed to be getting on with their host back there in the alley,” Eddie said to reassure both of them. “Still… we need to find them.” 

** _“Agreed.”_ **

“Wait, uh... V, does this mean this symbiote might be related to you?” 

**_Technically all symbiotes are related because we spawn asexually. We’re kind of like… a hive?_**

“I meant…” 

** _I know what you meant, Eddie. It’s just… my species doesn’t have the kind of pack bonds that humans do… Or at least, that’s been my experience… I think your way is better._ **

“Oh, yeah… I know what that’s like,” Eddie assured him. “I’m afraid I haven’t had the best experiences with family either,” Eddie winced as soon as the words left his mouth. He’d just been trying to empathize and show he understood where V was coming from but he was afraid that instead he’d just made it all about him. Just like his father always said— 

** _…We could eat him, you know._ **

Eddie let out a startled laugh. “He... he wouldn’t taste very good; _the moldy old—_” he sighed. “I know you mean well, darling, but that wouldn’t really help, you know?" Eddie cracked a smile as they exited the café. "...But I can tell you’re still hungry, so… Want to track down the Gambinos now?” 

Eddie felt Venom's fangy grin stretch across his face. 

** _You don’t even have to ask, Eddie._ **

***

**Tokyo, Before**

Their plan, unfortunately, had gone off without a hitch. 

Misa’s scream would long haunt his nightmares and the look of shock and horror in the detective’s eyes when Light had gone down, drifting off in the other man’s arms, was something Light would never forget in any of his lives. 

_“Light-kun!”_

_“Ryuuz—”_ Light slurred, frothing at the mouth as his chest seized. 

Dammit, he didn't realize it would be so painful... 

Darkness was already claiming him as he inexplicably felt the detective’s hand on his cheek. 

_“I was wrong? But I—”_

***

_Mu._

_Nothingness._

_Just darkness._

_The chill, endless void._

_Forever._

.

.

.

.

.

***

**Location Unknown**

Light heaved a sudden gasp, coughing violently as air returned to his lungs and his heart began weakly pumping again. The first thing he noticed was Ryuk, his notebook out and he was frantically pressing the eraser to the page. 

“Ryuk, _where the hell are we?_” Light croaked, startled by the rasping quality of his voice. “And why is it _so cold?_” the teen whined, he noted that his Shinigami had a roaring bonfire going nearby and yet Light didn’t feel it. It felt like ice was flowing through his veins. _“…And why the hell am I naked?”_

Maybe that was why. 

_Hopefully_ that was why. 

Light shivered violently at the remembered cold and endless dark— 

Ryuk sagged with relief when the eraser finally worked. He’d been really worried for a minute… **“Uh… you do realize that your bowels evacuated upon your death? I didn’t think that would be very pleasant to wake up to.”**

“You… you cleaned me up?” 

**“Er… I hope you don’t mind?”**

“No, I mean… thank you. Just… _Shit! It’s cold!_” Light hissed as he tried to get closer to the fire and Ryuk hastily pulled him back before he got burned. 

**“I’m sorry, Light. I-I forgot. That dying has that affect on humans. Uh, as for where we are… I’m not sure.”**

“What do you mean, _you’re not sure?!_” Light demanded, choosing to focus on that instead of what may or may not be wrong with him. There was only so much he could process right now and, well Ryuk had brought him back. 

He was out of the void. He was alive. 

Even if he was cold and miserable, he was _alive_… 

“Ryuk, that seems like a pretty important detail, don’t you think?” Light huffed. Of course he had had a plan for what was to happen after he died but that part obviously hadn’t gone _exactly_ according to plan. 

**“I’m sorry,”** Ryuk apologized again even though he felt some relief that Light seemed to be returning to his usual irritable self, **“I had to get us out of there quickly. L was trying to take your body. I had to get you out of there before they did the autopsy. I ended up doing a random portal jump. I have no clue where we are. Just… it looks like a beach of some kind.”**

Light snorted, “Yes, I can see that for myself.”

**“Uh… I grabbed your stuff beforehand.”**

Light had prepared a backpack for when they made their escape—it held his Death Note, a burner phone, some snacks, 50,000 Yen in cash and a credit line to a brand new bank account courtesy of several wealthy criminals Light had purged from the Earth, and a change of clothes. 

“Well, that’s a relief,” the teen sighed as he rummaged in his bag for the clothes, impressed that his Shinigami had even managed this level of foresight. He also noted with approval that his Shinigami had apparently warded the surrounding area. _Good._ Hopefully the Shinigami Realm wouldn’t see Ryuk breaking their ridiculous cumbersome rules and he wouldn’t get in trouble for helping him. 

Light frowned as he slipped into his change of clothes. This tracksuit typically kept him sufficiently warm, to the point it was part of his go-to gear when going on early morning jogs or enacting his plans in the middle of the night, yet even in his usually warm tracksuit he was still cold… 

**“Light-o… are you okay?”**

Light couldn’t stop the soft whine from escaping his throat as he huddled in on himself, shivering violently. He couldn’t get warm and he was growing increasingly apprehensive that this situation didn’t seem to be improving—maybe this was just his life now, or what passed for it—maybe the chill of the grave was now permanently etched upon his bones, if he didn’t just return to the endless void again… The young man cast a fearful look up at his Shinigami as certain things truly dawned on him for the first time. 

“I _died_, Ryuk.” Light said, as if only just then truly comprehending that. “I was _dead._” 

Ryuk swallowed around his sandpaper dry throat. **“…Yeah.”**

He’d _died._

He’d willingly subjected himself to that, abandoned everything he’d ever known. 

He could never go back. 

He’d never see his family again. 

He’d known all that going in and yet… 

_Why?_

Why had he been so ready to sacrifice everything just to spare some asshole of a detective who wanted him dead? 

Who would _never_ do the same for him? 

He’d abandoned everything but Ryuk and his dream… 

Light inexplicably felt moisture collecting in his eyes at the remembered feeling of Ryuuzaki’s hand on his cheek… 

He finally understood. 

He knew now what Ryuk had meant when he'd warned him against dying like a Shinigami. 

Ryuk froze; utterly bewildered about what he was supposed to do when his human buried his face in his shoulder.


	3. Bonds

_What’s on your mind, V?_ Eddie asked as they bounded across the rooftops because though Venom was salivating at the thought of devouring mobsters they still seemed distracted somehow.

Also striking up a conversation helped to distract Eddie from all the _down_ below them as Venom effortlessly leapt and swung between buildings. Eddie counted it as a small mercy that he couldn’t really feel the wind rushing past him while subsumed in Venom. He’d gotten a bit better about heights in these past few months or at the very least, he trusted in Venom to keep them safe when they were parkouring around the city but the phobia never really went away.

**“I guess… when I was thinking of your packbonds... It’s fascinating. And you don’t even need to combine to do it.”**

Venom felt the direction of Eddie’s thoughts at that and the subsequent embarrassment that caused. 

**“…Do you humans always thinking about spawning?”**

Eddie probably would have choked at that if Venom wasn’t currently regulating their air flow. 

**“I wasn’t thinking of our… genetic relations so much as I was thinking of like… _us._ And Anne and Dan.”**

They both felt the warm feelings at the recent memory of Anne and Dan checking up on them. Even though Venom still hadn’t fully forgiven Dr. Dan for using the MRI on them, they did appreciate that Eddie had other humans who cared for and supported him. 

Eddie felt a twinge of guilt at that thought because he’d lied to Anne, to both of them—_again._

Eddie hadn’t exactly _meant_ to lie to them, not really. Well, he hadn’t _exactly_ lied either, it was more of an omission. But it had blown up in his face, _their face. _

He’d thought it true at the time, that Venom was dead. After getting burned V had had to retreat deep inside of him to heal and wasn’t even strong enough to communicate. It was only a stroke of luck that Eddie’s depression meals of tater tots, chocolate ice cream, and antidepressants were apparently very conductive to symbiote healing. 

And afterwards, well… he’d just gotten Venom back and he’d been justifiably concerned that his friends would freak out to learn he was still harboring a carnivorous alien in his guts and they would try to separate them again. 

Eddie hadn’t really forgotten the MRI incident either. 

He felt justified when the news did break and they did freak out and he’d had to give them both a hurried explanation, reminding them that Venom had saved him, and the planet for that matter, and they had been living in him all this time and they hadn’t eaten him, even when they were gravely wounded and it would have probably helped them recover quicker.

Anne was still kind of upset he hadn’t told her and, well, Eddie couldn’t exactly blame her… 

Dan was pretty cool with everything and had somehow ended up becoming their primary care physician. 

Venom wasn’t fond of doctors or scientists in general after being a specimen in the Life Foundation lab but both Venom and Eddie trusted Anne and Anne trusted Dan and well… Dan knew to stay away from MRI machines now. Venom knew the doctor had Eddie’s best interests at heart, even though their checkups probably weren’t strictly necessary they supposed Dan was right—it couldn’t hurt to get a second opinion. Venom had eventually warmed up to the Doctor—they found their chats with Dr. Dan about the human body to be both helpful and fascinating even if Eddie looked a bit green by the end of them. So they had a pretty good handle on things now—they could probably keep Eddie alive through most things and, while such things were never spoken among the remains of the Hive from the comet, Venom knew from the depths of their genetic memory that a Klyntar could keep a single host alive for eons if they cared for them properly. 

_Anne and Dan? I mean, they’re friends, sure but…_

**”But they’re like… they are your family, Eddie, even if not genetically,”** Venom insisted with the expertise of one who had been observing these humans for a while now. 

**“And Mrs. Chen,”** they added sagely. 

_Mrs. Chen?! _

**“Yeah. Don’t you see? She’s like a… parent to us?”**

_You mean a… mother? I…_ Eddie swallowed. _I never had a mother._

Venom nearly missed their next jump when they felt Eddie’s distress. 

_My fault…_

Venom growled as they bumped up against the self-destructive thoughts buried in Eddie’s subconscious, implanted there in Eddie’s formative years by his progenitor—cruelly blaming his helpless spawn for the death of their human’s other parent—Venom really wished that Eddie would reconsider his stance about Brock Sr. not being on the menu…

**“Uh maybe she’s more like a… uh, squad leader!”** Venom amended. It was the closest thing they could think of. **“But _nice_,”** they added because as it stood it was really an unfair comparison. Mrs. Chen wasn’t anything like Riot had been and… she cared about Eddie, even when she didn’t have to. 

_Nice._ That was a human thing too, as far as Venom could tell. 

Riot didn’t just make snarky comments when you disappointed them. If you failed them—or any squad leader in recent memory—you were to be given back to the Hive to be devoured and reconstituted. 

Venom knew Eddie often felt like a failure but he had not been devoured and reconstituted. 

Venom couldn’t help but like the human way better. 

_Er… I see._

**“She takes care of you, makes sure you get food…”**

_Yeah, because I pay her, V._

**“How about those plants she keeps slipping into your bag? They don’t taste very good but she’s right. Your body does require those nutrients. You don’t give her the paper bits for those.”**

_Oh…_

**“She cares about you. That’s good, Eddie,”** Venom affirmed with a nod as they landed at the lavish upscale apartment which was to be the hunting ground of their chosen prey. It was a lesser known property owned by Tony Gambino, spoiled mafia prince and the scum responsible for the human trafficking ring that he and Venom had busted up last week. Gambino often came here to throw mob parties. Easy pickings, or as Venom so colorfully described it, an all you can eat buffet.

Venom crashed, obnoxiously, through the window 

_Do you always have to do that?_

**“It’s called making an entrance, Eddie.”**

_That glass was reinforced,_ Eddie complained, _We’ll feel that in the morning._

**“Stop your whining, pussy.”**

_Parasite._

**“Take that back—”**

_Hey! V, do you hear that?_

**“…What?”**

They were met with dead silence.

** _“What?!”_ **

_Exactly_, Eddie thought grimly. 

The Gambinos should have been here tonight. They never missed partying on Friday nights. It was like clockwork. 

_Where is everybody? Shit, are we walking into a trap?_

They were on their guard as they crept further in and encountered no resistance—and no people. 

**“Nobody’s here, Eddie.”**

_You’re right…_ Eddie groaned internally even as he felt Venom’s drool drip from between their fangs, _It seems we just can’t catch a break today!_

They both froze at a sudden thump coming from the bedroom. 

_No, someone IS here,_ Eddie hissed, quickly dissuading Venom’s impulse to pounce. It helped that V was clearly wary too because he hadn’t sensed anyone here. They carefully turned the knob and the door creaked open obnoxiously loud in the silence. 

They were greeted with a voice, nearly as deep and gravely as Venom’s own. 

**_“…someone is here, you have to wake up—”_**

It was the kid from the store, the one with the symbiote.

The kid was in a dead sleep and his symbiote was desperately trying to rouse him. 

_The fuck?!_ What the hell were they doing here? 

Were they a victim or involved with the Gambino’s somehow? 

**_I… I couldn’t sense them?_** Venom confessed in confusion. 

They could usually sense other Klyntar when they were nearby but this strange symbiote felt like a blank void where a presence should be.

But their presence clearly hadn’t gone unnoticed.

As soon as the door opened the other symbiote bristled at their presence, hissing and coiled protectively around the sleeping youth. 

Venom tried for a disarming gesture—which was kind of hard when you were a hulking mass of fangs, claws, and tentacles—but then, so was the other symbiote. So hopefully they wouldn’t be seen as threatening as they typically were to humans. **“Uh… hey…”**

The other symbiote snarled at them but made no move towards them… yet. 

**“…Okay…”** Venom said, hopefully in a calming tone. 

_Shit._

They didn’t want to have to fight a kid but neither they nor Eddie were very good at conflict de-escalation...

***

**_“Light, please…!”_** the other symbiote urged desperately, **_“You need to wake up!”_**

The youth twitched but didn’t rouse from his sleep, still lost in his nightmare. 

***

** _”Light-o, I'm so sorry—”_ **

***

_**“So… how does this normally work for humans?”** Ryuk inquired as they made their way home together from Kira HQ, Light strutting along as if he owned the whole damn sidewalk (or rather the whole damn planet) and Ryuk floating lazily behind him. It had been another long day of watching Light tease his favorite cute detective nemesis and pretending to hunt himself; pulling on the detective’s proverbial pigtails, sending him love notes via murdered criminals…_

_**“Tch. Seriously, just get a room already,”** Ryuk muttered, **“You’re already meeting him in a hotel.”**_

_ “…What’s that, Ryuk?” _

_**“Ah… uh, well, you said very few humans actually trust each other? So how do humans form bonds? I know ya’ guys don’t drop notebooks for each other!”**_

_Light allowed a slight-smile, despite himself, before answering. His Shinigami could be so naïve about humans. It was… cute. “Well you see, Ryuk, most humans are foolish, two-faced creatures,” Light explained without a shred of irony or self-awareness. “Ruled by emotions, overly-trusting, sentimental fools. They let their guards down much too easily. Then act surprised when they get hurt…”_

_**“But… how do you form bonds, Light? If you don’t trust anyone?”**_

_Light scoffed. “I can form bonds with anyone I want to.” _

_**“Can you really?”**_

_ “I can make people trust me. That’s enough.” _

_Ryuk cackled and Light felt himself growing irritated without knowing why. _

_**“Bet you can’t make L trust you!”**_

_ “Oh, you bet I can! You’ll see,” Light insisted, tossing Ryuk an apple in an attempt to shut him up. “He’s just as susceptible to foolish sentiment as the rest.” _

_**“So… you’re never really bonding with anyone, huh?”** Ryuk prodded before swallowed down his apple whole. **“Huh… Sounds lonely.”**_

_Light scowled and looked away. “I have you. I don’t need anyone else.” _

_That shut the Shinigami up. _

_Ryuk’s brow creased as he stared at his human in shock. Had Light forgotten what he was? What he was meant to do? It seemed, despite his talk, that Light wasn’t immune to sentimentality..._

***

As he watched Light with his violent shivering and hollow stare, Ryuk felt his insides twist uncomfortably again and it had nothing to do with apple withdrawals. 

_He_ did this to Light. Even if Light had asked him to…

It was a new feeling, feeling guilty for something he’d done to a human. 

Ryuk did not like it. 

Not at all. 

Ryuk shifted uncomfortably wondering again just how he’d gotten into this predicament. He’d never had this sort of problem before Light. He wasn’t the sentimental type and he knew a caring Shinigami was a soon to be dead Shinigami. The worst of it was that he could see it happening. He knew he’d become too attached, he’d gone… _soft_ for this human and yet he couldn’t bring himself to regret it.

Normally, if he were back at Light’s place, Ryuk would go off for a flight around the neighborhood to try and clear his head and shed these heretical thoughts but that wasn’t really an option… 

Well, Ryuk was curious. He hadn’t really gotten a chance to scope out where they were—he’d been more concerned with reviving Light than sightseeing—but he couldn’t really move at the moment. Well he _could_, physically. He wasn’t trapped—he could phase out and fly away at any time, it’s just… he found he was loath to do so. Ryuk’s shoulder feathers were still damp from where Light, in an odd moment of trust and emotional catharsis, had worn himself out—he’d fallen asleep on him and Ryuk found he didn’t exactly mind this. The Shinigami looked down in awe before he gently carded his talons through Light’s hair.

Ryuk found the sound of Light’s steady breathing soothed him after he’d been silent for too long. And… Humans needed rest to help them heal, right? So Ryuk was reluctant to move him.

Hopefully rest was all he needed—hopefully Light could recover from this—Ryuk didn’t think he could exist with himself if he couldn’t. 

_He did this to Light._

If he could Ryuk would repair every cell, heal every scar both mental and physical, wrap around his very bones and make his home inside this precious, bright spark of humanity he’d found after eons alone in a cold and unforgiving universe. The Shinigami knew then, even if it doomed him, he wouldn't be writing Light's name again. 

Ryuk growled at the approaching thunder. He’d just gotten this fire started. The Shinigami unthinkingly draped his wing over the young man’s shivering form. He startled when he heard the roar continuing and realized it wasn’t thunder. 

Ryuk pushed Light down and shielded him with his body. Even if he got in trouble for it later, even if he got dusted for it, he didn’t care—Ryuk had come to realize that for him existence was now meaningless without Light in it…

**_“What in Death’s name?“_** The Shinigami wondered aloud as some small, odd-looking aircraft descended overhead. Or was it a hovercraft? It was some sort of human-made flying machine. Ryuk couldn’t keep up with human technology—the last time he was in the human world everyone seemed obsessed with steam power. But whatever it was it impacted into a massive fireball further up the beach, the distance and Ryuk’s wards being what was protecting them, or rather _Light,_ from the blast. 

**_“HYUK!”_** Ryuk couldn’t help but cackle at that. **“Well… that’s something you don’t see every day…”**

Ryuk tilted his head curiously at the sounds of screams— 

Ah, some humans were dying over there, apparently. 

Well, that was hardly his concern. 

Ryuk only cared about one human. Before Light, Ryuk had been a model Shinigami and the only use he’d had for humans was prey. 

Light was the one who gave a shit about humans and justice and… whatever. _Morality._ Ryuk understood such concepts in theory but never really had much use for them himself—those were human things and hardly applicable to Shinigami who routinely took human lives to extend their own meaningless existences. He also understood Light’s views of justice and morality were skewed as far as other humans were concerned (hence the conflict Kira had with the law and that cute detective of his) but he certainly _cared_ about it... 

…Light who had barely stirred for all that ruckus.

**“…Light?”**

***

“Well, Red…” Kasady grinned as he stood amongst the mangled bodies of the SHIELD agents—those few that hadn’t died in the crash or weren’t currently roasting to a crisp trapped in the wreckage were now twisting on the ground beneath his feet; gurgling beautifully, choking on their own blood as they were impaled on red tentacles. 

“…This looks like the beginning of a beautiful partnership.”

It seemed Brock had left him a pleasant surprise. 

_That must have been why a group of cape busters like SHIELD is suddenly interested in lil’ ole me._ Sure he’d killed plenty during his respectable career as a serial killer, but he was never a _supervillain._

A Supervillain. How cheesy. 

He was perhaps the most prolific serial killer in America except for maybe Kira… if he really existed. Cletus wasn’t completely convinced it wasn’t just an urban legend brought about to explain away the effects of too much crappy prison food. 

But if he did… well, it was irksome. 

Kasady would have to really up his game now if he wanted to be the most feared. 

That shouldn’t be too hard now, with his new friend… 

Cletus cackled madly as Carnage retracted, tentacles ripping through the bodies of the special agents like knives through hot butter, showering him in blood and viscera. 

They stood there for a moment, tasting the rain. 

Cletus loved the rush, the power, and he couldn’t wait to paint the town red…

That’s right; he was in the big leagues now.

He really should thank Brock for it...

Brock and Venom. 

Once he’d eliminated everyone they ever cared about maybe he’d recognize the folly of abandoning _family..._

Cletus frowned. He wasn’t sure if that thought was coming from him or his new companion but did it really matter when the song of its madness played so well with his own? 

***

_“…You learn fast, babe. No, you see… here’s the thing about chaos. Ya see, in life nothing matters and killing’s the best way to stave off boredom. It’s better to be the monster so you don’t end up the victim. Be death, not dead. You know what I’m saying? Why, you ask? There’s no why! There’s no point! Haven’t you heard what I’ve been saying? If any God exists he’s a drooling idiot at the center of the universe!”_

Huh… There was some weirdo wandering about on the beach talking to himself—maybe they came from the crash? Ryuk might have paid that more mind if not for the fact that he currently had bigger problems… 

Something was wrong with Light. _What was he supposed to do?_ No… what _could_ he do? 

_“Anyway, that’s what I wanna do. Course we can do what you wanna do too, doll. I see it’s personal for you. Your daddy abandoned you, so let’s find your daddy and kill his family—let’s see… you know ‘em, don’t you? The blonde chick, their doctor friend… anyone they ever cared about. We’ll make ‘em good and dead! Mix them up in some chili con carnage and eat it right in front of him. Haha!”_

It shouldn’t matter. They were on the other side of the wards Ryuk had set up. And in any case, it was just a human and this… Cletus Kasady shouldn’t even be able to see them through the wards. 

Ryuk still didn’t know what to do.

Light still shivered like he was cold and he looked sick and feverish. The Shinigami could see that Light’s heart was still beating but it was beating sluggishly. He’d barely stirred even when a freaking plane crashed nearby. 

Was this the point where Light needed a hospital?

And could he even do that much or would he get dusted for that? Was it the intent that mattered, even if he didn’t kill on Light’s behalf to extend his lifespan? 

And would it even make a difference? 

Since writing his name in the notebook, even though Light was drawing breath again his lifespan number had disappeared from the Shinigami’s sight even though Ryuk knew he must have given him his years back when he erased his name—he’d _felt_ them go… 

Ryuk fluffed up his wing feathers fretfully and flexed his claws in an aborted move to reposition the teen on his lap. If he was going to do this… if he was going to take Light he’d have to leave the wards he set up and it would be rather obvious what he was doing. This wasn’t like carrying Light’s corpse around as he did before—weird but excusable by Shinigami standards—this would be obviously trying to save a human life… 

_“…For now though, let’s pick off random beachgoers like in a horror movie—that outta be fun! Oh look, there’s one now! Ha ha! What is this a bonfire party? What a sad party this is—a party of one. Hey, you alive there? If you are, let me fix that! If not, well … dismantling a corpse might be fun! Wouldn’t you agree, darling? You’re right! It could be tasty if it’s still fresh...”_

Ryuk put a claw to his lips in thought. Even if he wasn’t killing to extend Light’s life he could potentially get in trouble taking actions that could lengthen Light’s lifespan and the Shinigami Realm could definitely see what he was up to then—he couldn’t stay warded and fly at the same time. Of course there was a chance no one was watching—it’s not like the human world was under constant surveillance like when L bugged Light’s room and most Shinigami typically didn’t care about or bother with the human world at all unless they were hunting—but if anyone saw him he could get in big trouble. It wasn’t like he had any friends in the Shinigami Realm—at least no one who liked him enough that they would lie on his behalf. And it would be risky for Light too—there was also a chance he could get spotted by the humans because while humans couldn’t see him unless they touched his notebook, they’d see _Light_ if he carried him. Which was why he’d decided to risk a random portal jump rather than risk having Light’s body be seen flying around Tokyo. 

But if he took Light to the hospital then surely it would be easier for L and the police to find him? 

But then, at this rate, they might not have a choice. 

Shinigami weren’t healers and Ryuk didn’t want to see Light dead again… 

“The fuck? … Is… Is that kid floating?” 

Ryuk froze. **_But the wards…?!_** Ryuk did a quick check and yes, they were still up and functioning. **_This weirdo can see through the wards?! That shouldn’t be possible!_**

“Hmmm… You’re right. Who cares? Let’s kill him anyway!” 

**_”…Oh shit! Light, wake up!”_** Ryuk hissed as he dragged him out of the path of an axe. **_”Where the fuck did this guy get an axe?!”_**

_“Wha—”_ Light let out a startled cry which became a blood curdling shriek when the red monster lunged towards him, it’s “axe,” cleaving into his chest and shoulder and then suddenly Ryuk was in the way forcing it back. 

Ryuk was… Protecting him? 

_Oh no. “RYUK!” He’s gonna die!_

Light hissed in pain as he moved, disturbing the horrific wound on his chest. 

_…And so am I—no, don’t think about that now!_

Light ignored the blood gushing out of the wound to feebly grasp at a piece of flaming driftwood from the fire and flung it at his, _their_ attacker.

That had more of an effect than he’d expected--the monster momentarily retreated into the man’s skin, revealing that beneath all the horror it was just a man, and giving Ryuk a momentarily reprieve to get his notebook out, confirming Light’s worst fears. 

Yes, he was going to die again. 

Light knew he should be terrified to return to that nothingness again but it already felt like he’d been so scared for so long… he just felt tired. 

_Really?_ Light thought, he couldn’t help but be somewhat incensed by this turn of events. _This was how it ends? Brought low by a common criminal in a goo suit? I was meant to be a God…_

Light closed his eyes for a moment, resigned. 

Hopefully Ryuk wouldn’t get in trouble for helping him now if he just wrote his name. 

“Ryuk, please make it quick.” 

***

There was no time to weigh the consequences. 

Before Ryuk knew it the notebook was in his hands. 

He would not let Light die. 

_Not again._

***

Light snapped back to alertness upon realizing the strokes of Ryuk’s pen were all wrong. He wasn’t writing his name again like he was supposed to. 

Ryuk was writing the _wrong_ name. 

The _monster’s name._

_“No!”_ Light wheezed as he got to his feet. 

Ryuk watched in amazement as Light got up. He’d been stabbed—no, it was worse than that, he’d been _hacked at with an axe_ but he was getting up and… 

Ryuk gazed fondly as Light grabbed another piece of firewood and stabbed at the monster, actually landing a blow before it was effortlessly batted away. 

The Red monster had lifted Light by the throat but Ryuk, even crumbling, managed to counter it when he tried to snap his neck. Because Light still wasn’t giving up, even when there was no way he could possibly win. Trying to lash out, kicking, even restrained— 

The strength of will of his human… 

He would miss him when they both ceased to exist. 

How was he even still alive? Not for long, it seemed, with the way the red flowed out of his chest, but… Ryuk couldn’t tell for sure. After writing Light’s name, his lifespan number had never returned. 

Ryuk coughed and staggered slightly as he felt his body begin to disintegrate. That didn’t seem to matter now.

They would die together here. 

***

_ “Ryuk, you idiot!_ You’ve thrown your life away for nothing!” 

Light was right, it seemed it would all be for naught—there was forty seconds to go. At this rate the notebook wouldn’t even take effect before they were both dead. 

And this guy had seen right through the wards, like he wasn’t even human. For all that the Death Note might not even work on him… 

**“It seems… agh! We’re both fools,”** Ryuk wheezed as he watched more of his body turn to sand and fall away, 

Light reached for his crumbling friend just as red and black tentacles seemed to envelop him. 

Perhaps normally he would have been a bit more concerned about that but in his state of shock the only thing he could comprehend was that Ryuk was crumbling right before his eyes. 

Tendrils… like those that had vanished beneath the man’s skin when he’d injured the thing. 

“Ryuk…get inside me. It works for them, it might work for us. Hurry! If nothing else we die together here.” 

_**“Light…”**_

“Ryuk, I… _I love you. I’m so sorry._” 

***

“And people say _I’m_ crazy!” Cletus shook his head disparagingly as the teen declared his love to the empty air, “Ah, well, don’t worry kid, Dr. Carnage’s got the cure to all ya’ problems!” he cackled just as he went in for the killing blow. 

But something was wrong. 

“…Babe?” Cletus gasped out in confused betrayal as the last of Red detached and slithered away, leaving Cletus naked and alone _“Where the hell ya going?!”_

***

The rudimentary consciousness of the young red symbiote took after it’s progenitor and normally they wouldn’t have so easily discarded such a good match as Cletus Kasady, the human it had previously been riding. Cletus had been home, but Cletus also had a point—better to be death than dead and they’d just found Death—poor Cletus was just too dumb and pitifully human to realize it yet. 

Cletus had been fun, but he was just a human. And while Cletus had been an excellent match their bond wasn’t so strong yet that the baby symbiote wasn’t willing to jump to a superior host.

***

**_Light… So this is what love is. You showed me…_**

Ryuk groaned in shock at the feeling of dying and… being remade?

Ryuk looked down in surprise to find the monster still attacking him, devouring him… 

_…Healing him?_

The being almost felt like another Shinigami, as if it was made from the same primordial darkness from which the Shinigami were formed… But Ryuk didn’t have much time to contemplate that. 

This little upstart was trying to take over and though he might be dying he was a Shinigami, an embodiment of Death itself. 

Even dying, a God of Death was stronger...

So the infant symbiote had tried to devour an embodiment of Death and been devoured in turn—the Shinigami’s ancient mind quickly and quietly subsumed the nascent consciousness of the infant symbiote even as the ooze of the symbiote incorporated, absorbed, and healed the Shinigami’s decaying body until the two were one and the same. 

***

Red had changed. 

She was taller, lankier, and had jagged spikes coming out of her shoulders. The symbiote was blacker, the formerly prominent red patches had receded but were still there, running across the beautiful monster’s body in brilliant red streaks that reminded Cletus of arterial spray. 

“Ooh, you look gorgeous darling!” Cletus gawked at Red’s new towering, monstrous form. 

“Now come back here!”

They had a kid to corpisfy after all, which for some reason was proving surprisingly difficult. He had spunk, Cletus supposed, it had already taken twice as long as normal.

Cletus gaped in disbelief as he was ignored and “Red” leapt into the kid they’d been trying to send off this mortal coil. 

***

The problem was… Ryuk wasn’t exactly an organism or a proper host for a symbiote. Instead he’d become and replaced the symbiote and they still needed to bond, preferably with a human, to survive this planet. 

Ryuk, now with a physical body, reached for his human in his confusion 

The mind of the ancient Death God had easily overpowered the infant consciousness of the symbiote but the symbiote had left its mark in the form of genetic memory and the instincts that would allow Ryuk to take care of his new body and that of his human, _his host._

Instincts that said he needed to bond. 

Bond.

_"Ryuk, get inside of me."_

Had Carnage still been a factor they would have jumped back to Kasady without a second thought. But Ryuk was not “Red” and Ryuk already had a bond with a human. 

It was the only bond he’d ever accept.

***

“…Babe?”

**_“I’m not your babe,”_** “Red” snarled in a very deep, masculine voice. 

It wasn’t his Red anymore. 

And she… _he?_ Was riding the kid. 

Cletus shrieked and charged them again then, despite being naked and unarmed aside from a useless shiv he’d improvised out of a piece of flaming driftwood—the same stupid tactic the kid had been using. Cletus must have known it was useless but he still came at them, frothing from the mouth—his jealousy and rage turning him utterly irrational. 

He didn’t get very far, Cletus seized up, the Death Note finally taking effect and stopping his heart but momentum carried his body forward into Ryuk’s waiting jaws as his new Klyntar instincts took over. 

***

There was nothing left of Red’s consciousness to mourn Cletus when the Shinigami-turned-symbiote instinctively, and messily, consumed Cletus without a second thought. And while Ryuk found it kind of gross to so _literally_ eat a human as if it was just one of his apples he also understood from the upstart’s memories that they would need some fuel in the tank so he could heal Light properly—he’d need it to repair the cellular damage that he’d accidentally inflicted on his human with his temporary death. 

Ryuk immediately felt relief at now knowing what to do—Shinigami weren’t healers but evidently these symbiotes, the _Klyntar_ were. They could take care of their hosts if they so chose to. 

And Ryuk chose to. 

So with new instincts he’d inherited from the Klyntar, Ryuk immediately got to work, throwing everything into repairing his host, _healing Light_, as good as new—no, _better_ than new. Ryuk couldn’t help but be pleased he would now be sharing his immortality with his fascinating human. 

It was probably selfish of him, to condemn Light to this same boredom he himself had been suffering but maybe it wouldn’t be so boring if they could keep each other alive and entertained and… well, hopefully Light wouldn’t object.

Ryuk didn’t think he would—Light had always said he wanted to be a God.


	4. The Eye of The Storm (Part 1)

**Tokyo, One Week Later**

Watari wheeled a desert cart up to the darkened hotel room. 

Naturally, the Kira case was still ongoing but L seemed to have had lost all interest in it—or anything, really. 

It was a challenge now just to get him out of bed. 

But… it was perfectly understandable. 

L had watched the Yagami boy die right in front of him, right in his arms, and then the Japanese police went and “misplaced” his corpse. 

Rumors swirled that the body was stolen _because_ Light had been a Kira suspect and of course Souichiro blamed L for that—for fingering his son. 

L was utterly despondent. On the rare occasions Watari coaxed him out of bed all he really wanted to do was to kick around the sandbag in the hotel gym. 

While it was true that L had just experienced a traumatic episode, Interpol and the Japanese police wanted results. They were losing faith in the L name while he sulked. 

But Watari understood—these things took time—he had faith that L would come around on his own eventually. 

He, and Interpol, would just have to be patient. 

“What do you need to tempt you out of bed today, sir?” Watari asked, addressing the mound of blankets and candy wrappers—L was beneath there somewhere. 

While normally Watari would be pleased that his ward was getting more sleep since it was something he’d long neglected, this prolonged depressive episode was not what he’d had in mind. 

Watari paused to pick up some errant soda bottles to eliminate the tripping hazard. The windows were all closed and the blinds drawn. The only light in the room came from L’s laptop screen. That in itself wasn’t unusual for L—what was different was that instead of any casework he was streaming an old Batman movie which played unwatched by his disinterested ward and it was clearly on only for the sake of ambient noise. 

“Can I interest you in some cake…? Something to drink…? I’ve got you those edibles you wanted…” 

_“Light-kun.”_

Watari looked at him sadly.

“I’m afraid that isn’t in my power to give you.”

L glumly punched at his pillow before covering his head with it. A dejected and muffled “I know” emanated from beneath the mound of linen and down feathers. 

“Ryuuzaki… I’ve got a package for you here if you want,” Watari offered, producing a data stick from his pocket. 

L groaned.

“It’s not the Kira case,” he assured him. “It’s not even a case, really. You don’t have to get involved in this if you don’t want to. There’s already multiple agencies combing through this. But… if you’re looking for something to do… something to take your mind off of… uh—”

Watari fell silent beneath the weight of L’s pained stare. 

“Well… Someone just delivered a massive Hydra datadump as a gift-wrapped package to Interpol. I thought it might be of interest to you.” 

“_What?_” L erupted out of the covers in alarm. “…Fury?! No… he wouldn’t! Surely he knows that sections of Interpol have been infiltrated by Hydra.” 

Watari concealed the wisp of a smile at finally getting a response. “Fury and SHIELD do not claim responsibility, though Nicholas handed off this curated package of data to me for you to review at your discretion. I haven’t reviewed it myself but he seemed to think you’d find it of interest.” 

L sighed; he couldn’t really find it in him to care about much of anything anymore but… 

He reluctantly pulled himself out of bed and accepted the data stick only so Watari wouldn’t worry even though he’d probably just stare vacantly at the screen for an hour or so before returning to his depression hole. 

***

L idly spun his desk chair back and forth, barely maintaining his balance, as he pretended to look at the screen in front of him. 

The data stick that Watari had given him sat, unassuming on the desk in front of him. He had yet to work up the energy or motivation to actually plug it in and examine its contents.

Because as fascinating as it might have once been to him that someone had apparently hacked Hydra, exposed their operations and doxxed their members his mind was yet elsewhere. Part of him was still there—on Touhou campus on that mockingly bright sunny morning with Light dying in his arms. He wondered if part of him would always be there—that part of him had died with Light. 

L had _wanted_ Light to be Kira.

Light had been fascinating… but what had made him so intriguing was Kira. It was Kira that interested L. Kira was what had captured and kept L’s attention and it was his belief that Light was Kira that put them on an even playing field—made them true equals. 

Without Kira… 

If he had been wrong…

Then Light Yagami was just some kid he’d been tormenting for no reason. 

“…You are such an asshole,” L muttered to his reflection in the monitors which were still displaying the Second Kira, bound and blindfolded and weeping softly to herself. 

Misa now claimed not to know anything and yet her hairs and skin cells were found in the package sent to Sakura TV.

All the evidence pointed to her and it was insultingly obvious she was (or had been) the Second Kira… 

(Unless he’d somehow been wrong about that too…) 

But even if she was a Kira… L couldn’t really bring himself to have much interest in Amane’s case.

She really wasn’t anywhere near Light Yagami’s level. 

But even if he ignored Kira when he thought of Light—as hard as that was even as a mental exercise—there was still something about Light that fascinated him and… he’d wanted to explore it further. 

But now he’d never get the chance. 

“Any change with the Second Kira?”

L jerked and, after nearly falling out of his chair, tried to at least put on a pretense of straightening up when Watari approached him. 

“No change. Amane still isn’t talking. She claims to not even know why she’s here.” 

“Ah… Have you got a chance to look at that data I gave you yet?”

“Ah…” L began, wondering why Watari was even asking when it was quite obvious that the data stick was sitting on his desk. 

“Hmmm…” said Watari as he set down a strawberry cheesecake and a bottle of strawberry Ramune in front of L; the strawberry soda served in a plastic water bottle so it was easier for L to drink out of and because Watari didn’t want to give his ward anything made of glass or with sharp edges given his current state of mind. 

L guilty sipped his soda before he finally caved. With another world weary sigh he slipped the data stick into his work computer. 

L made himself comfortable with his cake and mounds of treats with every intention of binge reading or binge watching his way through the information on the data stick but he didn’t get passed the first file. 

L gave into his masochistic tendencies and watched it over again and again and then sat there for a while after the screen had gone dark and the final screams were silent.

“Uh… Ryuuzaki?” 

L glanced up to notice Matsuda standing there. How the hell did he get in here? 

“The Chief wants to know if you’re coming back to the case—”

L crushed his soda bottle in his fist, the red soda staining his white sweater pink but he couldn’t bring himself to care. _“…Fury…”_

“It’s understandable to be upset—” Matsuda began in clear misunderstanding. 

L quickly scanned through some of the other information that had come with data package and began to make some unsettling conclusions. 

L retrieved the data stick and pushed passed Matsuda without a care. _“Watari!”_

“Oh, is that the—do you know what’s in it?” Matsuda asked excitedly. 

L shut the door in his face. 

_...No, SHIELD would want to keep this information to themselves—not leak it to INTERPOL._

_No... Hydra ran afoul of someone who just happened to be a highly intelligent, skilled hacker who knew exactly who to send this to so it would get the most attention... so that it would be made **public.**_

_So that the names and faces of the doxxed Hydra agents would appear on the news._

_Hydra agents that are now being listed as Kira’s victims—_

_Well, I never thought I'd think this but... well done, Kira._

“Sir…?”

L bit his lip and then brought up and played the footage again for Watari’s sake. 

“You see it, don’t you?” L pleaded, desperately. “It’s him, right? Tell me I’m not crazy.” 

Watari gawked at the screen, confirming to L that he truly hadn’t known what the data stick contained. 

“…That man does indeed appear to be Light Yagami. But…” 

It was. 

It was Light-kun. Tied down and being tortured, _electrocuted._

_“God…”_

He had once promised he would see Kira get the death penalty might have sent him to the electric chair himself, but… 

This was too much. 

He’d already watched him die once.

And now all he could do was watch, horrified and powerless as someone else tried to do it again.

By the time the video ended, the man who appeared to be Light-kun was, miraculously, still breathing though it clearly labored him to do so. 

“He died in my arms! I know, Watari. I saw him die! But that… that was awfully convenient, don’t you think? And the fact that his body went missing— I’m starting to suspect he staged it for my benefit.” 

“Sir…?”

“There is also the fact that Kira is still killing. And though he still favors Japanese criminals for his targets he seems to be relying more on international news sources. He’s learned his lesson then... I don’t know how he did it but…He’s alive, Watari. _Somehow,_ Light-kun is still alive. He’s faked his death and fled the country,” L paced in front of the monitors, showing more life than he had in days. 

_Light-kun is alive. My Kira… he’s back—No, he never really went away. Our game continues—_

L leapt back onto a desk chair with enthusiasm. “Fury was right, it has captured my interest. Just when and where was this footage obtained?” 

***

**Tokyo, Before**

All was darkness, but that only made sense—the only Light that mattered was dead and gone. 

The police had forcefully separated her from her Light, dragged her away from her love who had fallen cold and dead into the arms of another man.

The police had arrested her then or just taken her in for questioning, Misa wasn’t clear on that and at the moment she didn’t really care. 

All she knew was that she’d been brought here—tied up and blindfolded and then left alone in here. 

Alone except for Rem. 

_Rem…_

“You promised,” Misa spat. “You promised me you wouldn’t…” _You wouldn’t really kill him…_

But then the Shinigami hadn’t really, had she? Misa had asked her not to hurt her Light but she’d never really promised. Never really answered when she told her—

**“Misa? What…?”**

This was all her fault. Her and Gelus and this accursed thing she’d never wanted in the first place. If not for this accursed notebook she’d never have noticed Light, never have fallen in love, and never had her heart ripped out all over again.

She would have died then, when she was supposed to, when she was meant to and been reunited with her parents… 

“I don’t want this anymore,” she sobbed. 

One of her kidnappers who had claimed to be police but given the bindings were probably pervert stalkers tried to talk to her then but Misa ignored him in favor of further yelling at Rem. 

_“LLEAVE ME ALONE!”_

** “Misa, I… it wasn’t me!”**

“I don’t believe you!” 

** “Light Yagami had your notebook. We have to find it…”**

“I don’t care! I told you, I don’t want this! _I don’t want it anymore!_” 

**“Misa… I,”** Rem tried, but it was too late. She’d already given up ownership of the notebook.

Rem could only watch in horror as someone came in to drug Misa moments later in what would soon become a terrifying cycle of torture and interrogation that was both horrific and utterly pointless because Misa knew nothing. 

**“Light Yagami… _This is all his fault!_”**

It was, somehow. Even though he was dead. If not for him, Misa could have used the notebook for herself and lived a happy life and…

Rem’s skeletal form went rigid in realization. 

Light Yagami—he’d died before his lifespan.

**_“Ryuk!”_** Rem roared, enraged. 

Ryuk must have been the one to kill Light Yagami, depriving Misa of her happiness. 

Rem snarled before spreading her pale bat wings and shooting off into the sky.


	5. The Eye of The Storm (Part 2)

**An Unknown Beach, Before**

Light woke up feeling well-rested. 

That fact alone startled him to full awareness. 

Given everything that had happened— 

He’d _died_ and then… 

Light cast his gaze around fearfully only to find himself alone. 

Yet somehow, he didn’t feel alone. 

Strangely, he felt kind of… good? 

His mortal wounds were gone as if they’d never been. He no longer felt any pain or the chill of the grave. He felt warm and content and oddly full despite not eating anything since before dying— 

The only thing missing was … 

Light squeezed his eyes shut. 

He remembered. 

_Ryuk…_

** _I’m here._ **

Light gave a start and once again rapidly looked around and above him seeking out the familiar looming figure of his companion. 

_“Where?!”_

**“Here.”**

Light startled again and _definitely did not shriek_ when a thick black snake-like thing with red and white markings coiled around his neck. It looked so much like the thing that attacked them but it had Ryuk’s face and spoke with Ryuk’s voice. 

“Wha—? Ryuk? _What the hell happened?_” 

** “I-I’m not entirely sure…”**

Light gasped at the bizarre alien images that flitted through his mind. 

“Wha—what _is_ that?!”

**_Sorry, sorry. Just trying to contend with a load of alien genetic memory here,_** Ryuk apologized, again not bothering to speak aloud this time. **_Okay, don’t freak out. I’m still not exactly sure how it happened but…. I have a physical form now and… and I’m inside of you. _**

_Like… literally?_

Light gave a start as he felt something moving beneath his skin. 

_”That’s you?!”_ Light exclaimed even though he already somehow, instinctively, knew it to be true. 

Ryuk was possessing him—_literally._ “You’re inside me?” 

Ryuk was perplexed when he found Light’s skin, _their skin_, warming up for some reason. 

Light stared down in both fascination and horror as he stroked at the occasional odd lumps moving beneath his skin—this would definitely take some getting used to...

**”Light, I… I’m sorry—”**

“I… don’t be. Ryuk, I—” Light shuddered as he registered the blood-soaked sand around them and the memories that induced. “I invited you in, remember?” 

Light squeezed his eyes shut again when the memory came unbidden of Ryuk crumbling right in front of his eyes— 

“Ryuk, I… It’s really you, isn’t it?” 

**”It’s me, Light. And if we could just find a Nintendo store around here I’d prove it to you by trouncing you at Mario Golf.”**

Light let out a relieved laugh. “Ryuk, I… I’m just glad you’re alright.”

He cautiously reached out and stroked the coils that draped around his shoulders and found them to be surprisingly soft. 

**“How are you feeling?”**

”Well ...I'm not cold anymore,” Light observed. 

**”…That's good, right?”**

“Yeah. I mean, I feel… pretty okay now,” Light began hesitantly though that wasn’t entirely accurate. He felt better than okay. This, whatever it was—it felt _good. _

Like, really good. He no longer felt like he was dying. The closest thing he could think of to describe this was like he’d just had a really good workout the likes of which he hadn’t had since his last tennis match with Ryuuzaki—

No. He shouldn’t think of him. 

Being “dead” meant he couldn’t be in his life. It was better this way—they wouldn’t have to kill each other now and though the detective was no longer in his life he’d still be alive and, hopefully, happy… 

Well, he might still pursue Kira but perhaps, _hopefully_ in time he’d just forget all about him and move onto other cases… Even if for some reason that idea stung, Light thought it really was for the best. He’d found he preferred L alive even if he wasn’t with him… 

And he shouldn’t be worrying about the past now anyway or what might have been—he needed to focus on his present situation. 

Perhaps he should have been freaking out about this development more but after literally dying and feeling the chill, vast emptiness of Mu bearing down on his mind, and after nearly losing Ryuk and dying _again_… it actually felt comforting to have his companion so close, to hear Ryuk inside his head, to feel him both on and under his skin, to know he’d never be apart from him again—to never be _lonely_ again. 

Just then his stomach let out an embarrassing rumble. 

**“Uh… Light, I don’t want to alarm you but we should eat something soon. I had to burn through… _a lot_ in order to patch your wounds.”**

“Oh. Thanks for that. Uh… what do we need?” Light looked around for his backpack, “I packed some apples and some chips—” Light was alarmed to find the contents of his bag scattered and that his bag had already been rifled through. 

**“Uh… sorry. Yeah. I already found those—”**

_“Where’s the notebook?”_ Light demanded. 

**“I have the notebooks with me—both mine and yours,”** Light’s notebook appeared then in his hand before immediately disappearing into that black and red substance again. **“Figured it was better to carry them on us than leave them lying around.”**

_“Woah…”_

Light understood from the genetic memories that Ryuk shared—the notebooks were inside Ryuk’s symbiote body—like in an extradimensional hiding place inside them. That was convenient and they could never be discovered or taken from them. Even if it did kind of make his head ache to contemplate how the hell that worked.

Along with the very fact that Ryuk was _inside him—_

**“What’s that Light?”**

“Uh…” Light’s face burned with embarrassment at the reminder that since their new bonding it seemed obvious Ryuk could read his thoughts and so Light quickly steered those thoughts in another direction.

He supposed that Ryuk was right—it was best not to leave the notebooks lying around. But it did make him kind of nervous that they were carrying two at once. No matter how secure the hiding place, it was better not to keep all their eggs in one basket. Light would have preferred to hide one of them away in another hiding place, like how he had back in Japan. Before faking his death, Light had controlled some criminal intermediaries to ensure Misa’s notebook was hidden away under lock and key in the most secure but also _ordinary-looking_ vault that his new fortune of criminal’s ill-gotten blood money could buy. Misa’s notebook was hidden away in one vault among hundreds at the bank so, hopefully, the Second Kira would never be active again. And since there was no paper trail that tied either of them to it and since the vault was so ordinary-looking it would, hopefully, be easily forgotten and overlooked by any potential robbers or investigators… 

**”Don’t worry, Light,”** Ryuk insisted, bringing Light back to the present and more immediate concerns. **“I can take care of this if you just… uh relax.”**

_ “Relax?!”_

Light gave another start as he felt more of that black and red substance sliding out of his pores and hardening around his body, forming into an armored second skin, enveloping him completely. 

**_Please don’t panic, Light. I’m just gonna take us fishing again._**

_Again?!_

** _Uh, I’ve already had to a couple of times while you were out of it._ **

_…Okay…_ Light tried to follow Ryuk’s advice and just relax even though he couldn’t help his panic over the fact that he didn’t have control of his own body again, just like when he’d been under control of the notebook—

**_I’m here._** Ryuk assured. **_And you’re not dying again! Not if I have anything to say about it._**

_Ryuk…_

**_I’m sorry, Light. I know this… this sucks—and I’d give you control but I’ve already done this before and I want to make sure we catch something first._**

_…You doubt my abilities, Ryuk?_

** _Oh there’s no doubt you’re brilliant, Light-o. I think you’re the smartest person I’ve ever met and I mean that for any world I’ve seen and throughout time. But have you ever tried to catch a fish with your bare claws and tentacles? It’s harder than it looks and I had that genetic knowledge dumped into my brain—_ **

Light’s anxiety spiked again when a flash of movement caught his eye.

_…The monster!_

**”It’s alright, Light. It’s just our reflection.”**

It was. It was just their reflection in the water. But that revelation didn’t really calm Light like Ryuk had hoped. 

_But we… Why do we look so much like HIM?!_

There were differences. There were prominent spiked pauldrons on their shoulders reminiscent of Ryuk’s feathers. Their body was darker, the red streaks and splotches were less pronounced but still present. They had Ryuk’s pale face and spikes on their head evocative of Ryuk’s hairstyle but his yellow eyes had become blotchy and eerie, more reminiscent of the white patches of the other monster. 

They were large, lean, and mean—a killing machine, all wicked talons and sharp teeth—when Light calmed enough to really _look_ he realized that they did look more like Ryuk than the other thing that attacked them but they still looked similar enough to their would-be murderer that it gave Light pause. 

**”He’s gone, Light,”** Ryuk assured him, sharing the memories of how he had subdued that other consciousness before bonding with him, **“We defeated them. Together. This is ours now. We took his power for ourselves so we can live and now I can share my power with you.”**

_I… Yes._ Light gasped from inside of him and then became embarrassed again by his reactions and the turn of his thoughts— 

Ryuk dove into the water.

Light watched through Ryuk’s eyes as they dove deeper, navigating the kelp forests in search of more schools of fish. For Light it was truly bizarre, it was almost dream-like, they were swimming serenely, muscles moving with new power but he had no control of the movements, and despite being submerged in water he didn’t feel wet at all, being that he was encased and protected in Ryuk’s symbiote substance. 

_Uh, so you know what happened to us?_ Light thought at Ryuk, trying desperately to change the awkward direction of his thoughts as Ryuk... took care of him. 

He felt his companion’s chuckle in his bones. 

Light couldn’t quite contain his shock as red and black fangy tendrils suddenly sprouted from his, no _their_ body and lashed out, snagging some fish as they swam past. They disappeared between multiple fangy maws. 

_Shit, warm a guy first!_

**_Ah, sorry._**

_Uh… It’s fine._ Light felt their fanged maw twist into a smile as they swam and he wasn’t sure if that was his doing or Ryuk’s or both of them. _I didn’t know you liked fish, Ryuk?_

His Shinigami had never shown any interest in any food other than apples before. 

_**I don’t. But we are hungry and I need the fuel to help heal you.**_

Light felt slightly nauseous as he felt the fish hit their now shared stomach. Hell, he didn’t even know if his organs were working properly after his death… but then Light supposed that was to Ryuk’s point. 

** _So… in answer to your question—uh, the creature that attacked us is called a Klyntar. They are symbiotic organisms, not native to the human world, obviously. And… they kinda feel like a Shinigami but they’re not? I’m not sure how to explain it. They just have that same miasma of death and darkness reminds me of—_ **

_…Reminds you of home, huh?_

**_Reminds me of the Shinigami Realm, yeah, but that’s not home. Not anymore. Home is you._**

“R-_Ryuk… _“ Light gasped out loud in surprise, somehow gaining control for the moment, and causing them to sputter some sea water in the process. 

** _Uh, sorry. It seems while we’re like this I have no filter. I didn’t mean to make this awkward. More awkward… _ **

_No, I… It’s okay. I don’t mind that you feel that way I…_ Light thought back as he focused on swimming them back to shore. _Ryuk… you’re all I have left now. And don’t ever think I don’t like that you like me. I mean, you’re a God and you like, LIKE me. If anything it’s a hell of an ego boost. Uh… sorry. I guess I have no filter like this either._

Ryuk snickered in his head. 

_Ryuk—_ Light cried in alarm when he saw a small shark headed right towards them with wide-open maw ready to bite but Ryuk was already on it. 

Enveloped so in the symbiote armor, he knew Light was completely protected from the shark’s bite and when the shark’s fangs sunk into Ryuk’s substance but found no purchase.

It could not harm either of them. 

Light watched on in unguarded fascinated excitement as more red and black tendrils shot out of them, grabbing the shark in turn, dragging the struggling creature towards their own maw. 

**_Shall we?_**

It was near instinctual—the shark squished in between their fangs. 

**_See? Don’t worry so much, Light-o. We’re at the top of the food chain here even if these little fuckers don’t know it yet._**

Light couldn’t help but giggle at that before he turned pensive again as he watched how their claws and tentacles cut through the water. 

_So I guess all this means that the thing that attacked us… won?_

**_No, actually it tried and failed to… it’s like, it tried to eat me but I ate it instead. And then I… I bonded with you. The symbiote is just a part of me now—a body for me to use._**

Light slowed their movements when he sensed something amiss—he was still getting used to this new bond with Ryuk and yet, somehow, realized that his companion was holding something back. 

_Ryuk, what’s wrong? Oh no…_ Light realized, _On the beach… there wasn’t a body. Did the notebook not work on him somehow? Is he still out there?!_

**_No, no. He’s dead,_** Ryuk quickly reassured. **_It’s just… I… Light, I… it’s not pretty._**

_Show me,_ Light commanded.

Ryuk showed him. 

**_We… I ate him. Both of them._** Ryuk confessed as they breached the surface. 

“…You saved me,” Light said softly, pausing to gently stroke the red and black coils that draped protectively over his body. 

As friendly as he was with his Shinigami, always in the back of his mind Light had never forgotten that Ryuk was meant to kill him. But instead he’d gone against his rules, his king, and his very nature to do the opposite. 

As for the act itself, Light wasn’t going to have any angst over the death of some asshole criminal who’d been trying to kill him. 

The fact that Ryuk had eaten him (and used his body to do it) was kinda gross but Light dealt with that the way he usually dealt with unpleasant things—by simply choosing not to think about it. 

“So, you killed a criminal on Kira’s behalf… Wait, so… you killed to protect me… _twice_ and you’re still alive.” 

**“Huh?”**

“Don’t get me wrong, Ryuk, I’m glad you’re still alive but… does that mean you’re not a Shinigami anymore?” Light asked with alarm as they dragged themselves back to their camp on the beach. 

Ryuk let Light have full control again and retreated somewhat beneath his skin except for a serpentine protrusion that stayed coiled protectively around his shoulders.

Light didn’t mind whatever shape Ryuk was in—it was only a problem if this meant that Rem could kill him. 

**_I don’t know. It’s not like this situation was ever covered in the rulebook. I think… yes and no—I think I’m a loophole._**

Light grinned, _Oh, I LOVE loopholes._

**_I’m both still your Shinigami but also your symbiote. And you are still marked as mine. That ought to be enough to deter other predators. And… you’re name was already written in the Death Note. Even though it was erased, I don’t think you can be killed that way again. _**

***

Light took a moment to collect his things and his bearings. He knew they should probably be leaving this scene soon but with no idea where they were or what to do next he allowed himself to take a moment to just sit by the bonfire, staring out into the morning fog rolling over the ocean as he cooked some of the fish that Ryuk and he had earlier caught. It was eerily silent but for the crash of the waves and the occasional scream of a seagull but with Ryuk’s presence felt draped around his shoulders like a giant black and red snake he felt less alone.

**“But… fresh sashimi!”**

Light snorted, “Uh… I usually like it a little more prepared than just straight out of the ocean, Ryuk.”

Ryuk shrugged his tentacles—to each his own. He simply watched in fascination as Light made use of their now shared claws to prepare the fish a little more before cooking it over the fire. 

For Light, making himself food was more of a psychological than a physical need because Ryuk had already fed them—from what Light understood from their intense question and answer session about this new arrangement what Ryuk ate went to their shared stomach but given that Light hadn’t put anything in his own mouth in what felt like ages his mind said he should be hungry. 

Light stared into the fire as he waited for his share of the fish to cook—taking care now not to get too close to the blaze—with Ryuk inside of him he no longer felt the chill of the grave and he’d seen well enough what happened to a symbiote when it got burned. This was the very same bonfire that had helped them earlier to gain a few precious seconds when— 

“Who the hell was that guy, anyway?” Light asked flippantly while trying to expunge the memory of what it felt like to have an axe sinking into his flesh from his mind. 

**“Uh…”** Ryuk somehow produced his own Death Note out of the ooze of his being and flipped open to the last page with a tentacle. **“Cletus Kasady.”**

“…Cletus Kasady... As in one of the most prolific serial killers in North America? _That_ Cletus Kasady?” Light groaned. “What the hell?! I thought I killed that guy!” Surely he should have been among the ones he’d judged in his first week acting as Kira… “Wait… Can I see that?” 

Ryuk shrugged and passed Light his notebook (it was heavier than his own, and Light was mindful of the skull and cross treasure binding embedded on the cover.) 

Light groaned again when he noticed how Ryuk had spelled their attacker’s name. 

He then had Ryuk produce their other notebook, Light’s own notebook, to make sure. Light flipped it to one of the earlier pages—it _was_ there. He had tried. But it was spelled “Cletus Cassidy.” 

“Oh… _that’s_ why. It must have been one of the names misspelled in the media.”

Not his fault then—he had _tried_ to rid the world of that evil before… 

“Then again, that _is_ a really weird way to spell that name…” 

**“You literally spell your name with the character for moon.”**

“Well…” Light grinned, “You’ll just have to take that up with my parents—” 

Light’s face fell when he remembered. 

_There’s no going back._

This was his self-imposed exile. 

**“Light…”**

“I’m okay,” Light insisted when Ryuk’s tendrils gently wrapped around him in an attempt at comfort, but he appreciated the gesture all the same. 

** “I’m sorry.”**

“You have nothing to apologize for, Ryuk. There… there was no other way. Light Yagami had to die so L could live and… and so Kira could truly prosper. I can enact my plans more easily now and my family can live in peace. So… we shouldn’t be sad. This is the dawning of a new day.”

**“Okay.”**

Light idly picked up the piece of driftwood he’d been using to poke at his fish on the fire. 

"So… uh, you’re inside me..." he said again just to make idle chatter as he prepared his food and… still really processing that. He swallowed and it was Ryuk’s turn to be surprised when he could taste Light’s emotions in the wake of that. It wasn’t fear but… 

_This is NOT the way I ever imagined it…_

**”You imagined it?”**

Oh, that’s right. Ryuk could read his thoughts… 

_Oh no, don’t think about—_

A very detailed image flashed through his head and Light felt like he was about to die all over again in mortification. 

It would be convenient that he didn’t have to speak out loud to communicate with Ryuk anymore. There was less chance of screwing up that way. It was just beyond awkward that he’d accidentally sent a very vivid sexual fantasy he’d had of getting ravished by his demonic companion when said demonic companion was now inside of him and could know what he was thinking and feeling. 

Then again it wasn’t something he was _trying_ to communicate. Maybe he couldn’t see it if… 

**“Light… You’d… you’d _like_ that?”**

Light coughed, “You _saw that?!_” 

**“Uh… we’re bonded. We’re in each others’ heads—even when I don’t mean to… I’m sorry.”**

“Oh _lord…_” Light buried his face in his hands 

**“Uh… On the plus side you don’t have to speak out loud in order to talk to me. I mean, that’s good in case we’re being monitored again, right?”**

“Yeah, uh…Right. Um, Ryuk…” Light cleared his throat. “You get that that was like… just a fantasy? I mean I wouldn’t exactly like that… I mean, there are games. And stuff… But it’s important to… like, it only really works if the players know and agree to the rules ahead of time. You get that, right?” 

**“Oh, I see. So like… a Deal? You need to agree to the terms before you do anything?”**

_He understands?_

Ryuk felt Light’s excitement again then and Ryuk’s coils shifted around on his shoulders in embarrassment. **”Uh… Shinigami aren’t actually permitted to have sex.” **

It was a relatively new rule the King had added later that had never really made much sense to Ryuk. He had never really thought about it before.... 

But then, given there was suddenly a rule about it, _somebody_ must have at least tried it— 

_”Oh…”_ Light couldn’t quite keep the disappointment from his voice or his thoughts. 

**”But… since, I’m not completely a Shinigami anymore, so… Er… if you wanted to sometime I suppose we might, uh… experiment?”**

Light cracked a grin, and he was only slightly surprised to find his teeth were sharper than usual. 

It was still his mouth, but also Ryuk’s. All this would take some getting used to but it wasn’t completely unpleasant. Despite being literally possessed by his demonic companion, he was feeling more like himself again. Before dying, before the cold and the black…

And now he was subsumed in the black again but Ryuk’s coils weren’t the darkness of Mu. Being subsumed by Ryuk’s new form was warm and welcoming. 

He was _warm._

He felt _whole_ again.

He was alive. No—_they_ were alive. 

In the reflection of a nearby tide pool a predator with his face grinned—all gleaming crimson eyes and sharp teeth… 

“Oh, you know me, Ryuk,” Light chuckled in his typically unhinged manner, “I do _love_ to experiment.”


	6. Poking The Dragon (Part I)

Venom watched, frozen in the doorway as they got their first good look at the other symbiote as it coiled around their sleeping host—they were an all-too familiar black with an oddly pale face with yellowed eye splotches, and a pattern of red streaks and veins that ran down their body in a way Eddie thought somewhat reminiscent of a tiger. 

V did not know this symbiote, they were not one of the Hive from the comet but they didn’t really feel like Riot either. They still felt wrong somehow and V found it unnerving that they had not even sensed them but… there was also something about them that felt oddly familiar… 

**_“Light, please…!”_** the other symbiote urged desperately as it slithered around the sleeping boy, **_“You need to wake up!”_**

The youth twitched but didn’t rouse from his sleep. 

_**Light? **_

_Are they’re asking for the light?_

Eddie supposed that made sense, if they were trying to get somebody to wake up. 

Venom cautiously reached out with a tendril and helpfully flipped on the light switch which, for some reason, seemed to only earn them the instant ire of the other symbiote again.

The black and red symbiote swirled around and let out an ear shattering roar that was loud enough to make their tendrils twitch in discomfort—surely was loud enough to hurt them too… 

**“Easy! You’re hurting your host, you’re hurting him!”**

They had to shout to be overheard but they must have heard because the roaring instantly ceased. 

But the other symbiote did not relax its guard—Venom watched in horrified fascination as the other symbiote congealed partially outside of their host into a monstrous form that crouched protectively over their sleeping host. They marveled at that—this symbiote didn’t seem affected, or as affected, by Earth’s atmosphere as they and the others from the comet were. Even if they didn’t really feel like Riot it lead credence to their earlier theory, that this symbiote was spawned in Earth’s environment. They probably could even survive without a host… 

**_“Don’t touch him!”_** Black-and-Red snarled, hackles raised, or rather spikes and pseudopodia were bristling out of their well-defined form like one of those Earth felines Eddie wouldn’t let him eat.

Of course being capable of surviving something didn’t mean one might _want_ to do it. 

Just because they and Eddie were capable of surviving leaping off a skyscraper, for instance, didn’t mean Eddie found the experience enjoyable. 

And… Venom knew they wouldn’t want to be without Eddie even if they had been capable of surviving without a host. 

**_…They must have found a very good match._**

Then again, even if the Hive from the Comet had developed something of a culture of consuming hosts and not getting too attached, their species was never really meant to be alone. 

Eddie breathed a sigh of relief at the realization that if the symbiote was this protective of the kid, it was unlikely they were burning through him like the other Life Foundation symbiotes. 

Black-and-Red growled again, their bizarre-for-a-Klyntar yellowish eyes splotches took on an eerie malicious reddish tint before the Black-and-Red symbiote took another awkward tentacle swipe at them which Venom easily dodged. Their movements were amateurish and uncertain and yet sections of the doorframe and the wall splintered in its wake and Venom’s white eye splotches widened comically. 

They were absurdly strong for a newborn. 

They would only get stronger. 

**”We mean you no harm!”** Venom insisted, even trying some of Eddie’s way and raising their claws above their head. Even if it made them look uncool, neither he nor Eddie really wanted to fight them if they didn’t have to—they were just kids. 

Eddie watched behind Venom’s eyes—and was struck with the thought that this other symbiote didn’t look a thing like Riot. If anything they looked a lot like V. 

There were differences of course—there was their odd pale face, they were lankier and their vein-like streaks were red instead of white, and they had sharp spines protruding out of their body as if to make up for the lack of obvious muscle but overall Eddie couldn’t help but notice the similarities—the same sleek black of its substance, the same eye splotch shape, the same healthy shape of their fangs. 

Eddie didn’t know what that meant. 

Maybe nothing. 

After all, V said that all symbiotes were genetically related to each other but Riot had been Venom’s spawn and there hadn’t been such a strong resemblance. Even if all symbiotes were related to each other with their self-cloning means of spawning… here Eddie could definitely see a family resemblance. 

_V… let me talk to them._

**“Eddie… no—”**

_Let me talk to them. Show them we mean them no harm._

**“But…”**

_If they hurt me you can always heal me._

Eddie insisted and Venom wished he had Eddie’s confidence in him. 

Venom reluctantly peeled back from Eddie’s face but their tendrils remained on guard in case they were needed to shield him from attack. 

“Hey…” 

The other symbiote hissed but then looked at them curiously as Eddie exposed his face. 

“Easy, kid. We’re not gonna hurt him, alright? Either of you.”

**“…And what do you want of us, _Eddie Brock?_”** The other symbiote snarled. 

At that moment Eddie felt Venom freeze in his veins. 

_…V? What is it?_

**_…it CAN’T be._**

***

_Dammit._

So much had happened in such a short amount of time and now they were under threat _again?!_

He didn’t want them getting into another fight so soon. Light needed to rest and recover even if he didn’t. 

But… _Oh!_

Ryuk gave a start when the black tendrils drew away from the other symbiote, the man’s head, revealing his face—it was the guy from the store.

In retrospect Ryuk had felt something kind of weird about the guy when they met but hadn’t really understood what it meant until now—this was all new to him too and in some ways he was still learning how to use this body. It hadn’t all come with prepackaged instructions. 

But this man… their encounter was brief but Ryuk remembered that Light had kind of liked him. He had felt that even if Light might deny it, might have insisted that his worry was annoying, but this man had been _nice to him_ and they both remembered that. That sort of thing mattered to Light so it now mattered to Ryuk. 

Ryuk knew that wouldn’t, _couldn’t_ spare him if he was a threat, of course.

And he had a symbiote. Surely that alone should qualify him as a threat enough… 

_But…_

There was something about this guy or maybe his symbiote that made Ryuk want to trust him. 

That alone was suspicious. Maybe it was just Light’s paranoia rubbing off on him but Ryuk kept his guard up and tried to unsubtly warn them away. 

**“…And what do you want of us, _Eddie Brock?_”**

Name dropping was a tried and true intimidation tactic for Shinigami when dealing with the rare obnoxious human that wasn’t already intimidated by their monstrous forms—the fangs and the claws… which Shinigami weren’t actually allowed to use on humans by the decree of the King. 

However, Shinigami were far from being paper tigers—it was simply considered _beneath_ a Shinigami to kill in such a way—to kill like beasts when they were Gods and had their Death Notes at their disposal. But then Ryuk had never stood much on decorum and he wasn’t exactly a pure Shinigami anymore anyway. Should the need arise he wouldn’t hesitate to use any weapon at his disposal to protect Light. 

_That’s_ how far he’d fallen—he’d once been a perfectly respectable Shinigami, he would never lift a finger to help a human before. The other Shinigami were probably laughing their butts off if they saw him now, but, eh. Whatever. They were assholes anyway and Light was worth more than all of them combined. 

Though it seemed he’d miscalculated in this instance—name-dropping hadn’t had the desired effect. It had not intimidated this human or his symbiote and had in fact only served to further awaken this bold human’s curiosity. 

Ryuk cursed softly to himself. He shouldn’t have done that. 

Well clearly this wasn’t an average human—he was like Light in that way. Just like his Light, Mr. Brock had already been exposed to non-human entities of Death and Darkness such as himself and grown at least accustomed to if not comfortable around them… which was impressive. 

Of course no human could ever impress him like his Light had but he did find it interesting that this man hadn’t fled yet either. Like Light… Though Ryuk had clearly startled him on that night they met Light had never truly been _afraid _ of him. Be it because Light had accepted his fate or believed in his abilities to talk his way out of whatever imagined punishment he believed was coming his way Ryuk still wasn’t sure, even so connected with his human—maybe Light hadn’t known himself—but he hadn’t run, there had been none of the boring pleading or whining that usually accompanied an encounter with humans. No, this human had gotten up and faced him, even spoken to him as an equal. That had been a first for Ryuk when dealing with humans and, in retrospect, was probably when he first started falling for him. 

This man, though, Ryuk smelled his fear. So why did he persist in bothering them if he was afraid? Maybe he was like that L-guy who was clearly lacking a self-preservation instinct, what with the way he insisted on poking the dragon in the name of righteousness. 

Tch, _how boring._

Such traits, they were only tolerable in Light because, well… he was Light. Ryuk could (and did) just stare at him for days on end and not be bored. And besides between the diabolical plans he came up with and the body count involved, Ryuk found him far more amusing than what humans usually meant when they spouted some trite line about fighting for justice. 

But _of course_ the standard power play wouldn’t work—by Death he’d been an idiot! Brock knew nothing about Death Notes or the inherent threat of knowing one’s name and (for Light's sake) he should remain ignorant on that front. So the threat would be utterly lost on him—well other than the inherent creepiness of a stranger knowing your name.

Dammit, he really wished Light would wake up. Light was the smooth-talker, not him, and he could really use his brains on this right about now. Ryuk also knew Light would prefer not to kill anyone else in person but he was officially all out of ideas of how to deal with this. 

For Death’s sake, why had he even bothered? And why had he used _that_ name rather than the one he saw floating above his head, the one that would actually kill him if Ryuk was so inclined: 

Edward Charles Allen Brock Jr.

…How pretentious. It sounded like the sort of name Armonia Justin Beyondermason would come up with. No wonder he preferred just-Eddie… 

And how in Death’s name had he known that? 

He just _knew_ which name to use, which name this other human preferred. It was like…

Like something imprinted on him by the alien genetic memory. 

**_”Oh…”_**

If his guess was right… well, this was really awkward. 

Ryuk remained on guard even as the other symbiote seemed to realize or at least suspect what Ryuk had guessed. He would not compromise Light for some stupid “family reunion” that he really had no place in— 

** “You’re… you’re really loyal to your host,”** Venom observed. 

Ryuk shifted, still guarded, still awkward but remained mum. Just what had given it away? 

**“That’s… That’s good.”** The Klyntar insisted. 

**“It is?”** Ryuk asked with genuine surprise. 

That was not the response he was expecting given, well _everything._

His sort of attachment got Shinigami killed, _did_ get him killed. Shinigami were meant to take human lives to extend their own meaningless existences and it seemed that symbiotes weren’t much different—at least in recent memory they had a similar culture of non-attachment. Starving on the comet they’d taken to consuming their hosts and each other—burning through hosts and taking their lives for themselves. But deeper whispers suggested the Hive from the Comet was an aberration and the Klyntar typically had a nicer sort of bond with their hosts than a Shinigami did. 

They could heal, help, give back to their hosts. 

Shinigami could only take. 

So Ryuk didn’t mind this change so much even if he was less of a God than before. 

**“Yes. That’s… that’s very good,”** Venom insisted before cocking their serpentine head to the side. **“What’s wrong with your host?”**

**_“What?! Uh… Nothing!”_** Ryuk snapped defensively. 

_“V…”_ Eddie gently admonished, “What V means is, uh… is he a heavy sleeper or is he hurt? …Why is he hurt?” Eddie pressed when he saw in the other symbiote’s reactions that he was right. 

**“He’s… sick,”** Ryuk tried, his tone betraying his worry, because that was the closest thing he could guess of what was going on with Light even if Ryuk couldn’t find anything physically wrong with him. 

Light was alive, out of Mu, no longer dead. He was breathing, all his organs were in working order, and Ryuk had patched all his wounds, kept everything running smoothly and yet he was plagued with lethargy and phantom pains of things that, in Ryuk’s opinion, should be over and done with and yet the human mind held onto as if there was a danger of it happening again—as if most of those that hurt him weren’t now rotting in the ground... 

** “He needs time, a safe place to heal,”** Dammit, he shouldn’t be telling them this and yet, for some reason, he wanted to trust them and felt like he could. **“Ah… We’re having a really rotten day.”**

Venom nodded their serpentine head as they twined around Eddie’s shoulders. **“That’s understandable…”**

“…I wouldn’t really count a mob den a safe place, though,” Eddie observed. 

Ryuk growled in annoyance. Of course Light knew what he was doing. They’d needed a place to rest and regroup for a moment and, after Kira had cleaned out some more of the world’s organized crime, this was as good as any. 

**_Light made it safe,_** was what he wanted to snap back but that would be dangerous and incriminating and even if there was something about the other symbiote that was oddly soothing, Light came first. 

It was too dangerous. They could _never_ know _what_ he really was or _who_ Light really was... 

**“It was safe enough! We didn’t have a problem until you showed up,”** Ryuk snapped, the frustration of this situation getting the better of him and making him angry and defensive. 

Just because he suspected… 

For Deathsake, he shouldn’t even _care_ and yet…

It shouldn’t matter. He wasn’t Carnage. He was a Shinigami (or had been), an aspect of Death itself—an immortal, cosmic entity of death and destruction who was just wearing the symbiote as a meat-suit. 

So it shouldn’t matter… 

But Eddie had been nice to Light. 

“Hey, uh, sorry about that,” Eddie said while awkwardly scratching the back of his neck, “But, you know, this is a known mob hang out, right? If it hadn’t been us, disturbing your beauty sleep it could have been a rival gang or the police. This place is very likely on their radar—” 

**“No it’s not,”** Ryuk huffed, he couldn’t help but be insulted on Light’s behalf. As if he’d ever do _anything_ without having a plan. **“We checked. The Gambinos pay them off. It should have been fine here… Or it would have been… if some idiot hadn’t broken the window,”** Ryuk sulked. 

“Ah… yeah… Sorry about that,” Eddie said sincerely while trying not to laugh when the other symbiote quite visibly _sulked._ He glared at where V smirked, unrepentant over his shoulder. “We can help you.” 

**“This place was supposed to be safe,”** Ryuk groaned as he coiled around his human’s still-sleeping form. 

Eddie kind of wanted to ask where the Gambinos were, but then if this Symbiote was anything like Venom that was probably a stupid question. 

Venom pouted. **_We still didn’t get dinner._**

_You can’t eat them._

** _I know that!_ **

“…We’ll order a pizza of something,” Eddie said aloud. 

**_…It’s odd though._**

_What’s odd?_

**_Where’s all the blood? There are no blood stains anywhere. They are either a very neat eater or they killed them elsewhere,_** Venom observed. **_Maybe they stored their heads in a cache in a secure location. That’s a sensible thing to do… _** Venom pondered and Eddie left him to it as he directed his own thoughts in another direction, not really wanting to pursue that mental image or line of thought any further and trying not to puke even as he felt Venom’s drool dripping from his mouth at the thought of caches full of heads. 

Eddie knew Venom needed the Phenethylamine and they tried to keep to the more “vegan” chocolate diet whenever possible. He couldn’t really blame him for his hunger. It’s just he wasn’t entirely comfortable with it even if he tried to limit their diet to chocolate and bad guys. 

**“Pizza…”** Ryuk cocked his head, considering. **“Yes, that sounds acceptable,”** it wasn’t apples but it sounded like the kind of nutrition that Light required. Sure, Light had kept him fed plenty but when was the last time Light ate something? He’d been neglecting that too long. Just because they _could_ push things in that regard didn’t mean they should... 

**“Alright… but if you hurt him I will kill you.”**

“Dude… that goes without saying.”


	7. Poking The Dragon (Part II)

Ryuk knew Light didn’t really like it when he moved him around while he was unconscious but he had Light’s permission per prior agreement to move them if they were in danger and… Eddie and Venom were right—this place was no longer safe. 

V couldn’t help but stare as the other Symbiote subsumed his sleeping host, clearly taking pains to not to disturb them too much as they moved.

They had felt Eddie’s suspicions and… they felt it too. 

But it was impossible. 

They’d felt the child die. 

And yet— 

Why else would they feel so oddly protective towards this strange Klyntar even though they were still a bit sour they hadn’t gotten to chase down any live prey in ages? 

And… they knew _Eddie’s name!_ He’d called Eddie by name. 

As they scaled up the side of the building together, V couldn’t help but marvel at how careful and practiced the other symbiote was with their large claws. Though they moved just as fast, the way they gripped the building could almost be described as… gentle, _dainty_ even. Almost as if they didn’t really need to. Unlike Venom, who always left scars in the side of the building in their wake the other symbiote left a minimal presence behind… if any at all. 

**“Why so careful?”** Venom wondered aloud.

**“Why aren’t you?”** Ryuk countered rather than consider the answer. 

Ryuk had always been careful about how he interacted with the human world given the myriad rules that governed the Shinigami but… did those rules even apply to him anymore?

(And why shouldn’t he be careful? Destroying things came so naturally to him… Apples weren’t as tasty if they exploded in your hands, you couldn’t play a game if you broke the controller, and humans…. Humans were so very _fragile—_) 

In any case, Ryuk knew Light didn’t like leaving evidence behind so saw no need to adjust his behavior to be more reckless now. 

**“ …You know humans generally don’t appreciate it when you destroy their things, right?”** Ryuk said instead, **“But more importantly why leave a trace for others to find? That’s just asking for trouble.”**

_They have a point, V. You could learn a thing or two from them._

Venom huffed.

As they reached the roof of the building V let his curiosity get the better of them in the form of a wandering tendril gently coiling over the other symbiote—inadvertently communicating directly through touch and through psychic resonance. 

The contact was brief, and the other quickly shut him out but it confirmed everything that should be impossible. 

Venom gasped. **“It _IS_ you… You’re… You felt dead!”**

The other symbiote was cagey then and seemed deeply disturbed by their brief psychic contact given how swiftly they shut them out. That hurt, but Venom supposed they probably deserved that—they _had_ abandoned them for dead. 

They _still_ felt dead… 

***

Ryuk considered the merits of running now. 

He hadn’t expected something like that. 

He’d felt the psychic bond briefly connect and had been unable to completely stop it. 

But where else did they have to go? 

Light had been so confident in his last plan, that they’d be safe there (and so tired after everything) that he hadn’t bothered with a backup. 

And besides, Eddie had promised to feed them and Ryuk knew that Light really could use some human food. Besides, Ryuk really wanted Light’s opinion on all this.

They did need a safe place to stay so that Light could recover… 

And Ryuk was completely blocking them out now. 

Now that he knew what to look for Ryuk had discovered that his new Klyntar body had naturally strong abilities to conceal itself from others of its kind. That was good but he was unsatisfied to leave it just up to alien abilities he didn’t fully understand yet and threw in a quick and quiet little spell of Shinigami warding magic on top of that too to make sure Light’s secrets would be protected from… _whatever the hell that was._

So it was unlikely there would be a repeat of that… 

_Hopefully._

***

Venom gaped at the other symbiote with guilt and horror. 

His spawn! How could he have just left him there? 

He didn’t even feel alive—

_**But of course!**_

They wouldn’t have felt like a normal Klyntar—they’d mutated to adapt to living on Earth! 

Earth—a total deathworld from the Klyntar’s perspective with it’s toxic atmosphere that would typically kill them without their hosts. And their spawn had clearly mutated further as they jumped hosts… 

That was good. 

Well V wasn’t real fond of just disposing of hosts like that but couldn’t exactly judge him for it given they’d done much the same before finding their Eddie. 

But at least the one he ultimately chose wasn’t Kasady… 

Eddie approved of this host more than Kasady, V could tell. 

So… that was good... 

_V?_

**_They are… strange. But they are our spawn,_** V announced with raw feeling. 

The other symbiote, their spawn, shied away from their tentacles and V couldn’t exactly blame them... blame _him._

From their brief contact V had learned that their spawn thought of himself as he and had chosen to adopt binary conventions of gender—a notion probably adopted from his human. 

V sometimes went with “he” because it was convenient and Eddie often conceptualized them as a "he" but they didn’t really have a gender as their own being—they were just as comfortable wearing Anne’s gender as Eddie’s and generally didn’t much care about it except for when it pertained to Eddie’s comfort. But they could recognize it was important to other beings and they would remember and make the effort for the sake of their spawn, their _son_, to ensure they referred to him as such. 

**“I’m so sorry—”** Venom began. 

** “I… it’s alright. I understand,”** Ryuk insisted. 

**_“You do?!”_** Venom reacted with visible surprise and instinctively probed deeper for understanding, trying to get through the surprisingly strong barriers their spawn had erected before remembering that that would be a violation of privacy.

Not that it mattered, their spawn quickly shut them out. 

Venom supposed they deserved that after abandoning him for dead, but if their spawn truly did forgive them, and weren’t just saying that then… Maybe? 

Perhaps they were just the forgiving type? It seemed there was no foul for their breach of privacy, seeing as the other continued to follow them, bounding across the rooftops to Eddie's apartment.

So maybe, hopefully, they could one day earn the connection they sought. 

Though they knew they were currently undeserving of it, Venom nevertheless found themself longing for it. 

Family… like humans do. 

***

Oh by Death—he’d been right! 

Venom was the parent of the symbiote that he had essentially killed. Thanks to him the poor bastard had never had a chance to live. He had killed their spawn and was now wearing their face. 

Even Ryuk could recognize that that was pretty fucked up. 

Shinigami didn’t really bother with morals. Those were human things but… admittedly Light kind of rubbed off on him. 

True, things that most humans would find messed up Ryuk still found to be pretty funny but Light wasn’t like most humans. That was probably part of why they got along as well as they did—because they for the most part shared the same (sick) sense of humor. 

There were limits of course. 

Light cared about more things, and people, than Ryuk did and even if it was at times performitive Ryuk would sometimes get a mild chastisement of ‘Hey that’s not funny’ about laughing about certain subjects even if he recognized a glint of amusement in his human’s eyes. Light knew there were socially acceptable limits even if he often privately agreed or as Light claimed, ‘merely found Ryuk’s honesty refreshing.’ 

So Ryuk wasn’t sure if it was Light’s warped but very human nature rubbing off on him or his becoming a Klyntar or both but instead of finding this poor creature’s error to be a grand source of amusement as he knew it would have once been, Ryuk only felt awkward and uncomfortable. He was keenly aware that he was an imposter, the cuckoo in the nest that had devoured it’s true offspring—he didn’t truly regret that (the symbiote had been trying to kill Light, after all) but he did feel sorrier for the poor bastard than he strictly wanted to—which was any amount at all. 

Damn Light and his human soul. 

If this was what having a soul was like, Ryuk did not want it. Guilt was not a fun feeling. No wonder Light had once offered his own soul up so readily—this really _fucking sucked_. 

More so because he still found it all kind of funny but now felt vaguely bad about it too. He missed just being able to enjoy stuff happening and laugh at the amusing deaths he’d caused down below without worrying about the ethics of it all. 

He was really missing not giving a damn. 

But then he remembered the bones and dust and eternal boredom…

Ryuk supposed that was the trade off for not being bored, for coming to appreciate a human, _this human_, that he’d come to give a damn, at least about things that mattered to Light and Light cared deeply about family. His family in particular—he cared about hurting them, and wanted to protect them even if it meant he had to leave—he cared enough to stay away and not drag them down with him. 

Ryuk wasn’t really this symbiote’s family but the poor thing thought it was. Shinigami didn’t have families… unless you counted the Old Man. Ryuk supposed the Shinigami King could be counted as something of a father figure for their kind. But other than that, he only knew of the concept from Light... Oh for Death’s sake, there was no need to make this weird. Venom wasn’t acting like a father anyway. He knew from both his own and Light’s memories that fathers were distant authority figures that could never be pleased so by that metric he wasn’t acting like a father at all. 

He was just... friendly. 

Friendly was good right? 

That might even be useful to Light. 

Ryuk felt a spike of frustration at himself when he felt vaguely bad about it even as he thought of it. Because even though knowing all of this and even though he was still strictly _himself,_ he was also a symbiote and symbiotes were apparently, even with all their bloodlust and predatory instincts, highly empathetic creatures. Even if he couldn’t directly relate to the situation himself, he could recognize that this situation was still pretty messed up. But as messed up as it was, protecting Light was still his first, no truly his _only_ priority aside from getting some more of those tasty earth apples. Those priorities were far more important than any of this dreaded empathy he might have developed since ceasing to be a full Shinigami. 

***

“So uh… You got a name, buddy?” Eddie thought to ask awkwardly when Venom subsided as they led the young one through their apartment window. 

Ryuk tried to stay mum, he really wanted to consult with Light before he said anything else despite the odd instincts to open up to this Klyntar because Light was counting on him to protect him yet something must have slipped through due to the Klyntar’s unfamiliar mode of communication. 

And… _that’s_ what this was. 

_Psychic abilities._

Klyntar apparently had low-level psychic abilities—especially between members of their own species, abilities that were especially strong between parent and spawn or between individual Klyntar and their bonded hosts. 

This could very much be a problem.

But wouldn’t it be more suspicious to run now?

And… food. They’d promised food. 

Ryuk quietly strengthened his magical wards around Light’s mind and carefully kept his own thoughts guarded.

Light needed food and to safely heal and… and maybe if he played his cards right he could get Eddie to give him apples. 

Just because Ryuk felt vaguely guilty about things he shouldn’t didn’t mean he wasn’t willing to exploit the situation. 

**“Ryuu—Huh? _Dragon?_”** Venom mused, instantly translating. **“That’s a good Klyntar name.”**

“Dragon?” Eddie repeated in confusion. 

**“His name is Dragon in his human’s language—Japanese.”**

“You speak Japanese? Wait, they’re a symbiote with a Japanese name? Isn’t that weird?” 

**“No more weird than me having a name in English… What? Did you think I was spawned speaking your language?”**

“I guess I never thought about it,” Eddie admitted, scratching the back of his neck and Venom’s tendrils gently, momentarily, coiled around his fingers. 

Ryuk watched the byplay and felt something twist in what passed for his body now—a stirring in his cold dead heart that, anatomically, he no longer possessed. Ryuk wondered how long Eddie and Venom had been doing this symbiosis thing. 

He hoped he and Light could get there one day. He thought they were doing pretty well considering the circumstances. 

Still Ryuk couldn’t help but feel a spike of envy at that easy touch, those gentle smiles, and the wordless communication that passed between them that had little to do with telepathy or the physical proximity. 

Ryuk gave a wistful sigh. As well as they got along, he knew that Light didn’t trust easily and really it was a marvel they got along as well as they did considering Ryuk had originally been tasked with killing him. 

He _had_ killed him, even if it was done on Light’s request. 

And… even if Light somehow overlooked all that, even though Ryuk ultimately couldn’t kill him again, and had tried to die for him instead that didn’t, or _shouldn’t_ negate what he was, or had been—a God of Death.

And now he was Klyntar invading his body. Even if he hadn’t intended it, even though Light had made it plain he was welcome here, he couldn’t help but fear that he was hurting his human somehow. Or that Light resented him for it. 

And… they’d been having an absurdly horrible time these last few days with no room to breathe, to talk about things. 

Things like, well _feelings_ and other things too fierce to mention. 

Neither of them did feelings very well.

Maybe it didn’t matter so much if they were in each other’s heads? 

Ryuk got the sense there was a mutual understanding even if they had been carefully avoiding certain subjects while distracted with other plots and plans and fighting for their lives. 

Still, Ryuk yearned for that easy trust, that level of closeness he felt from his parents—_from Venom and Eddie_—and could only hope in the darkest corner of the void of his metaphorical heart that he and Light could get there one day... 

**“His name means little Dragon to be more precise,”** Venom added with clear amusement. 

Ryuk couldn’t help but scowl upon realizing that their “dad” was laughing at him. 

**“…Fine. You may call us ‘Dragon.’”**

“Oh, I don’t know. Little Dragon is pretty cute.” 

An irritated “Dragon” bared his fangs much to both of their "parent's" open glee. 

***

_Meanwhile in The Shinigami Realm…_

**_“Where is Ryuk!”_** Rem snarled, **“I have a bone to pick with him.”**

Armonia Justin took a draw on his pipe, unfazed by Rem’s ire. The tantrums and quarrels of the young ones were of no consequence to the ancient golden bejeweled skeleton.

But now that she mentioned it, Justin realized he hadn’t heard much from Ryuk lately which was odd because the younger Shinigami was always stirring things up and getting in trouble… 

Justin briskly consulted the book of fate to ascertain the younger Shinigami’s whereabouts. 

_Oh…_ that was why. 

Well it happened to all of them eventually.

It was only surprising when it happened to one so young. 

**“Ryuk? …. Hmmm, it seems he broke the rules. He’s dust,”** Justin casually informed her. 

He didn’t know what Rem wanted with Ryuk and he didn’t much care. But he felt something that passed for amusement upon seeing the startled look on the younger Shinigami’s face. 

**“…What rule?!”** She demanded. 

Justin scoffed at the younger’s impetuousness. Back in his day Shinigami showed _respect_ to their elders, thank you very much. 

**“I should think you would know,”** Justin continued casually, fiddling with one of his bejeweled rings. **“He met the same fate as Gelus.”**

**“…How is that possible?!”** Rem shouted in disbelief. **“When have you known _Ryuk_ to care about anything or anyone?”**

Armonia Justin simply shrugged before rolling away on his golden throne. It was hardly of his concern—Ryuk was dust and therefore of no consequence. As was Rem’s rudeness. 

The other Shinigami’s turbulent emotions meant no more to him than the passing of a storm, and surely just as ephemeral—it would pass, even if it took a few centuries to subside. And if it didn’t—if Rem became a troublemaker much like Ryuk had been, well, Nu was always ready to dole out punishments. 

***

Rem was left standing there, feeling a helpless, indescribable cold in her bones. 

There were no answers to be found here, no reason—only the ash and dust that drifted about their lifeless realm. 

But wasn’t that just the life of a Shinigami? 

How was she supposed to help Misa now?


	8. “In This World, There Are Very Few People Who Actually Trust Each Other” (Part I)

**_The Beach, Before_**

Light was ready to move on—with help from Ryuk he’d swiftly gathered and reorganized his things. He knew that the sooner they got away from this place the better. And yet… his gaze couldn’t help but be drawn to the crash site of the downed aircraft further up the beach. The fire has burned itself out and Ryuk felt Light’s curiosity like a living thing twisting around his brain— 

** _You wanna go have a look?_ **

_I… it’s tempting… But it’s best not to stick around near the scene of a crime. Besides, there might be cameras… That’s a prison ship of some sort isn’t it? Is that… That’s where Kasady came from, isn’t it? Right. And who the hell even uses a hovercraft to transport prisoners? Did they know what Kasady was carrying—did they know about the symbiote? Dammit, that could be a problem for us—_

** _Hey Light? Uh… I think that cameras won’t be a problem if you wanna have a look._ **

Light watched in fascination as Ryuk again enveloped him and then did something so that the red and black substance of the symbiote armor shimmered and became mirror-like, causing the light to bend around them so that they seamlessly blended in with the background. 

_“Woah…”_

**_They shouldn’t see us now, right? But they could still hear you, of course. US. So we’d have to be really quiet._**

_…You’re right, I do kind of want to see who these people were or what they were doing but… there might be infrared cameras?_

**_I think we can do temperature regulation too._**

_Oh… okay. Do that then._

** _Okie dokie!_ **

If they _were_ going to do this they had better be smart about it. But then, after all that there was still the question of how to even get in? Let alone if it would really be worth the effort… 

_Dammit,_ this was probably a bad idea. What could this ship tell them that he hadn’t already inferred? But then, what if there was a record of what happened here. Or even… survivors? 

Crap, what if there were survivors? He didn’t want to even have to think about that. This could be really messy. But, Light figured he had to figure out what or who they were dealing with here. It was better to be proactive, to eliminate any threats now than sit back and wait to be hunted for the symbiote or for Kasady’s crimes… 

**_Uh… I’m pretty sure we could just phase in through the wall?_** Ryuk offered. 

Light jolted in surprise at the suggestion. _What?! Is that even possible…?!_

**_Yep, uh you know how I do it all the time…_**

_Yeah, but as a Shinigami—_

**_Yeah, and I’m pretty sure I could still do it._**

_Why? I mean why are you so certain?_

** _Because Klyntar are power copiers. I’m pretty sure I copied the ability from MYSELF, from my old body. And, like... I’m pretty sure I still have all my abilities as a Shinigami._ **

_Alright… let’s assume you COULD do that… It might work for YOU but how can you be sure that I wouldn’t become meat paste stuck in the wall?_

**_Well… because you’re my host. That means we share everything. Including powers._**

Light audibly gasped at the notion. That… that nugget of information probably deserved its own analysis. 

Just what powers was Ryuk sharing with him? 

(Shinigami were gods of a sort so did that mean…?) 

No, he’d best not get ahead of himself. Better to stay grounded in reality and focus on the current problem. 

The notion of phasing through a wall still sounded horribly dangerous but Ryuk’s confidence was infectious. Light kind of wanted to try it, just to see if they could. 

_Fine… but let’s not be half-assed about it. Let’s do this scientifically_.

**_Scientifically?_**

Ryuk watched, puzzled, when Light wanted him to expose his head for a moment in order to pull out some hair. He then wanted access to his own hands in order to bite off some fingernail clippings. 

**_What’s that about?_**

_Send those through and back first._

Ryuk did the gooey, tentacle-ly version of a shrug and did as Light asked, moving the clippings through the wall and back again with ease. 

Light lightly scratched his chin (taking care as his hands were once again wrapped in Ryuk’s talons as the rest of his body was encased in symbiote armor.) 

Well, that seemed to work without issue. The nail clippings and the hairs seemed the same as when they went in. Of course there was no way of knowing what that process would do to living tissue, but at least those pieces of organic material seemed to make the journey through the wall intact… 

**_If you want to try sending like… I don’t know, a whole finger through first, you could just cut one off and I could grow it back for ya._** Ryuk suggested with almost ghoulish enthusiasm when he had caught on to what Light was testing with this experiment. 

Light grimaced and began to have second thoughts about whether his curiosity was really worth maiming himself or potentially scrambling his atoms… 

**_I could keep the severed finger alive too for the experiment. Well trick it into thinking it’s still alive. Like a flower in a vase, you know?_**

Light struggled against retching inside the “suit.” Was that what he was then? A dead thing kept alive artificially? He’d been _dead._ Surely it was only thanks to Ryuk that blood still pumped in his veins… 

**_I healed the wound in your chest—I brought you back from the brink of death. I can give you a new finger if you bite it off, you know. Good as new!_**

_What the hell…_ he’d already trusted Ryuk with his life. So why did he hesitate now? Ryuk was right. He had already done more drastic measures… _Still, I cannot believe I’m even considering…_

Even if he didn’t really _need_ to get into this craft right now… that phasing ability might come in handy in the future in case they had to run again—a very real possibility. It would be better to know _now_ if they could actually use it in a nice controlled test of their abilities rather than try and do something half-assed and stupid later and end up getting vaporized in the case that Shinigami or Klyntar powers didn’t work the way they thought they did… 

Even with the potential for maiming himself, given what Ryuk had already shown he could do, it was an acceptable risk. 

It was somewhat alarming—it was unlike him, to be so trusting; especially towards someone who Light knew had originally been tasked with killing him. But then Ryuk had already shown his loyalty multiple times over. Light wasn’t sure if it was due to their changed bond or shared trauma but… he somehow just _knew_ that Ryuk meant him no harm with his suggestions and just _knew_ that Ryuk wouldn’t let any lasting harm come to him. 

Beneath the armored shell, Light squeezed his eyes shut. 

_…Do it._

Light grimaced as Ryuk grew out his teeth into fangs and swiftly bit off the offered pinky finger.

_Oh shit, oh fuck! I AM SUCH AN IDIOT! This was a stupid idea. Shit! God… There’s so much blood—_

**_Breathe Light! Breathe! I’ve got you._**

Ryuk, true to his word, began healing him immediately. 

Light hissed in pain and horror—a sound which was, fortunately concealed within the folds of Ryuk’s substance. It was gross and disturbing to watching but a new finger was swiftly growing into the mangled stump—bone, muscle, blood vessels, skin and all. Everything in its proper place and his hand looked no worse for having previously been so maimed. 

Light tried to swallow down the bile rising in his throat again as Ryuk made the severed finger wiggle a greeting before phasing it through the wall. 

The finger, too, returned intact but then just as suddenly disappeared. 

_Oh no…_ It seemed his fears were grounded after all… 

**_Relax. That was me._**

_…What did you do?!_

**_I just reabsorbed it. The finger, hairs, nails and all. I mean… better than leaving your severed finger and your DNA lying around, right? You’ve said before that humans can trace that._**

_Right… that’s good thinking, Ryuk._

**_So… uh, are we ready to try? I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise._**

_I…_ Light swallowed nervously but promptly reminded himself that they were on the clock and they probably already wasted enough time here already. _ Alright… let’s do this._

Despite his experiments and Ryuk’s repeated reassurances Light breathed a sigh of relief when they emerged on the other side, fully intact and with all their molecules in the proper places. It had felt weird but they were no worse for wear for going through the wall. 

It almost seemed anticlimactic. Of course he wasn’t _hoping_ to get vaporized. For once he was happy to be proven wrong. It’s just he felt a bit ridiculous for worrying so much before…

They froze and Light fought to keep from losing his lunch again. He wasn’t quite sure what he had been expecting but… of course, he should have been mentally prepared for this. 

With Ryuk’s help, Light managed to get his breathing under control as they stepped over the scorched and mangled bodies. It was a grisly scene but at least while encased in Ryuk’s armor he was protected from the smells. 

That had put a bit of a damper on things and yet… 

A wicked grin spread across his face, no _their face_ as it occurred to Light that Ryuk _had_ just conquered the laws of physics for him. He supposed some praise was in order... 

_ Good job, Ryuk._

Their fangy grin widened, and Light was smiling softly within the folds of him as he felt Ryuk, for lack of a better word, _purring_ at the praise—a pleasant vibration he felt deep within his bones. 

He could _feel_ that Ryuk was pleased that he had pleased Light and Light was glad that that had worked and that meant he had _even more power_ at his disposal, he was closer than ever to becoming God and… 

_Wow…_ that felt good. _That…_

Light bit his lip. Outwardly, this translated as an awkward gnashing of fangs—this whole sharing body thing would take some getting used to. 

They _really_ needed to focus right now. 

They made their way through the craft, silent and unseen as a ghost. 

**_Oh hey, Light! Look! There was a door popped open on the other side!_**

Light fought not to groan aloud. 

There was indeed a door ripped out, either from the crash, or the fire or… 

**_Kasady,_** Ryuk affirmed. 

Well, at least they now knew they _could_ do that… 

Still it was grating to know he’d gone through all that, _done all that work_ and he could have just strolled in...

** _You do tend to worry too much, Light-o._ **

_Yeah… That’s why I’m still alive._ Light paused at that. _…Part of why I’m still alive,_ he acknowledged. 

After all, for all his careful planning he still wouldn’t be here if not for Ryuk— 

_No survivors… We probably shouldn’t tempt fate and stand around in a crime scene any longer… _

**_Yeah… Wait… uh, I…. I remember this place. Oh, I see. This is where Kasady… This was Kasady’s cell._**

_Did the ‘CARNAGE RULEZ’ written on the walls in blood give it away?_ Light snorted. _How juvenile. He couldn’t even spell it properly. I’d expect as much from some dumbass delinquent not a criminal mastermind._

**_Yeah, I don’t think Kasady was the sharpest tack in the box._**

Light shook his head. It hardly mattered anyway; Kasady was of no consequence now.

But… had the owners of this craft known what Kasady was carrying?

Surely they didn’t… How could they have been so careless as to let him escape? 

Light paused as they headed for the exit and with a bit of assistance from Ryuk’s tendrils removed a body to find an onboard computer. 

Maybe this search wouldn’t be so fruitless after all? 

Their eyes widened as Light realized this wasn’t just a black box like he was expecting. This was so much more… 

They startled slightly as they heard the tell-tale signs of approaching emergency vehicles. 

It was far past time to get some distance from this place.

They had to leave _now._

Light nabbed as much data as he could and transferred it to his burner phone to later review at his leisure. 

They exited the craft as silently as they came in and took care to leave without a trace.

***

**_Present, Eddie’s apartment_**

**_It was as we feared. Kasady had it… But Kasady won’t be a problem now,_** Venom assured, sharing with Eddie the memory he’d lifted off his spawn before he’d been forcefully shut out. 

_“Ooh!”_ Eddie winced exaggeratedly as V shared with him the other symbiote’s memory of messily devouring the serial killer. 

Yet, despite his natural revulsion to the people-eating… well, Kasady barely qualified. And Eddie couldn’t help but feel a profound relief that their spawn had found a better match in some innocent kid and not a monster like Kasady who killed for fun. However, Eddie’s relief was short-lived as next came the crushing guilt for ruining this kid’s life… 

**_Why?_** Venom asked, genuinely puzzled. 

“Huh?” 

**_Why would this ruin this kid’s life? Isn’t Dragon protecting him?”_**

“I-It’s nothing V.” 

**_Eddie…_**

“You’re right. I’m being stupid. I shouldn’t have made assumptions. Hell, we don’t even know what this kid’s life was like before… It’s not you, darling,” Eddie quickly assured when he felt Venom’s discomfort, “It’s just what it means for him… It’s just… eating people is generally frowned upon in most human societies. He’ll be hunted as a murderer.” 

**_But... we…We have to eat, Eddie. _**

“I know, love.” 

**_Then why—?_**

“Sheer dumb luck, I imagine,” Eddie was frankly surprised that he hadn’t been arrested yet. His face was fairly well known as a newscaster before he’d been fired and they hadn’t exactly been subtle while rampaging around San Francisco. 

They had exercised more caution since then but surely someone must have noticed… 

**_No I mean why do you accept me if I’m monstrous to you?_**

“You’re not, love,” Eddie assured as he stroked Venom’s inky coils, “It’s just… we can’t expect other humans to understand and, well, the kid might need an adjustment period, even if their symbiosis with Dragon is going well.” 

**_…It is disturbing that Dragon showed no loyalty to his previous host… I’d find it more concerning if he hadn’t already shown to be fiercely loyal to his current host._**

“Huh… I wonder what makes this kid so special?” 

**_…Kasady might have just been a means to an end? They might not have even been compatible._**

“Ah… So that’s what happens when a symbiote swipes left.” 

**_I do not understand that reference._**

“Oh, Uh…” Eddie laughed awkwardly, “I just meant when a symbiote rejects a host…” Eddie felt an inexplicable wave of guilt just then coming from his companion, “You doing okay buddy?” 

**_I ate you, Eddie. I ate your…_**

“You were starving. I understand,” Eddie quickly interrupted, not really wanting to dwell on the circumstances under which they met or that one time V was devouring his heart. 

“And… we do okay. Right?”

**_…Right,_** Venom reluctantly agreed because they could see that was what Eddie wanted, and felt like a liar—because _surely_ they weren’t okay. 

They ate Eddie’s friend. 

Sure, back on the comet Venom had to regularly work with other symbiotes who regularly ate their companions, but humans typically had stronger pack bonds than the Klyntar. Surely it wasn’t what humans considered healthy to keep ignoring all that. They probably _should_ address that someday when the wound wasn’t still so raw but for now V followed Eddie’s wishes and dropped the subject. 

***

Light jolted awake, instantly alert at waking in a strange place. 

_Ryuk, WHAT HAPPENED?! _

** _Uh… long version or short version?_ **

_…Short version._

**_We, uh… Light, please don’t be mad. But I think we, uh… we kind of got adopted by uh… I think they're the sort you’d think of as ‘the local well-meaning idiots.’_**

Light pinched the bridge of his nose with his own human fingers. _…I think you’d better start from the beginning._

** _Hey, smell that? I think the pizza’s here!_ **

_…Please don’t tell me you were thinking with your stomach._

It was a not-so-secret anxiety of Light's, that one day someone would wave an apple at them and Ryuk would spill the beans on everything.

Of course, Ryuk could understand Light's concern—apples _were_ tasty and, other than Light, they were his primary interest in the human world—but no apple was worth disrupting their bond for.

**_Nah, Light. I was thinking with YOUR stomach._**

Light stifled a groan. 

** _…You need to take better care of yourself. Anyway, shall we go over and say ‘hi?’_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
Me: Hey can we please move the plot along?  
Light: No. I refuse to just leap through a wall without testing it first. (And I insist on doing things the hard way).


	9. In This World There Are Very Few People Who Actually Trust Each Other (Part II)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I swear I'm alive. I'm sorry, this chapter has been 1. been kicking my ass 2. gotten so long I had to split up into multiple chapters so I hope to have the next bit up soon.

Light just didn’t understand—hadn’t they agreed that it was better not to get involved with others after everything? 

_Just what has this guy done to gain Ryuk’s trust? Oh no, uh… Ryuk… You didn’t tell him my real name, did you?_

** _Of course not! I’m not stupid._ **

_I know. Just checking._

**_I’m sorry, Light. I just thought it better than staying there after we’d been discovered… Uh, we can leave if you want?_**

“Let’s leave,” Light hissed. 

“Oh… Uh…” They both gave a start when they noticed Eddie standing there awkwardly with the pizza. 

It was kind of startling that such a big guy could move around so quietly. 

Well, this was awkward. 

“Look…" Light squirmed under the scrutiny, which he supposed was alright in this instance since it only lead credence to his act of trying to look "normal."

Dammit, what even _was_ normal under the circumstances? 

"I appreciate the hospitality…” 

It was somewhat of a relief that the big guy seemed just as awkward as he was. “Well, uh… I mean you’re free to leave if you want, but you know we have more pizza than even Venom can eat here—” 

“…we can take care of ourselves...” Light argued, just before his stomach gave out an embarrassing rumble. 

**_“Thanks, Mr. Brock!”_** Ryuk chirped while snagging a slice of pizza with a wandering black and red tendril. 

Light glared at the offending tentacle. 

Well now he felt obligated—it would be rude not to join them. 

Light reluctantly sat where Eddie indicated at the table. He sat regally in the cheap plastic chair—or at least with as much dignity as the situation allowed. 

Eddie hid a frown behind his own slice of pizza as he regarded the youth. _Huh… Stubborn. If he didn’t have his buddy there he would probably be too proud to ask for help._

**_Hmmm… He reminds me of someone I know,_** V thought back affectionately. 

_Maybe he has nowhere to go or maybe he had a home and feels he CAN'T go home. _

**_Why not go home if he had a home?_**

_Could be because of the symbiote could be for… other reasons._

The memory came unbidden. It was many years ago that Eddie had ended up couch surfing after his father disowned him when he discovered he’d briefly dated a guy in college. 

**_…I really wish you’d let me eat Carl,_** Venom growled. That man, Edward Carl Aberforth Brock Sr., going by Carl, might have been his Eddie's progenitor but by every human standard he was no father.... 

“That was years ago,” Eddie muttered, “…V, don’t snarl. You’ll scare them.” 

**_I don’t think so… or at least no more than he already is._**

“What do you mean?”

Then he thought he saw what Venom meant. Dragon seemed perfectly at ease, though he was draped over the kid’s shoulders protectively, probably in response to the kid’s nervousness… 

Venom regarded the human host warily. They were confused that Eddie didn't seem to be picking up on what they were looking at. Though they supposed they wouldn’t have been able to explain it if Eddie asked them to elaborate but somehow this young human felt more dangerous than their powerful earthborn spawn—which felt absurd even as they thought it—he was just a human. Venom found that humans on their own generally didn’t pose much of a threat to them and most of them were in fact delicious. And yet as they scrutinized each other Venom’s predator instincts were going off as readily as if a scorpion-bird had landed in their midst. It was odd—the host did not seem particularly physically imposing. If Venom hadn’t long ago learned to trust their instincts when protecting the Hive… and later vulnerable humans like Eddie and Eddie’s friends they might even have thought they were imagining it. Eddie seemed completely oblivious to the killer instincts lurking behind the younger human’s eyes, treating him as he would any lost kid they’d save. 

Well, good on Dragon for finding such a fierce host and one that Eddie apparently approved of (that was the most important metric in Venom’s estimation). Venom thought they had the potential to be a good hunting partner—provided they followed Eddie’s rule about only killing bad people. 

Light supposed it wasn’t fair to judge the man by his past experiences with symbiotes. So far he’d found Ryuk’s assessment of them to be accurate—he was a well-meaning idiot… He and Venom both were—they were a pair of well-meaning idiots. 

Of course, Light didn't truly mean that in a derogatory way—to him that was simple fact, and it was his general opinion on the majority of the human race. Of course the only human he’d ever met who was on his level and he could have intelligent conversation with had been the detective sent to capture him. 

The only intelligent life on planet Earth sought his destruction which just… majorly _sucked._

Ryuk was the only other company he found tolerable—of course Ryuk wasn’t on his level either but at least he possessed information and perspectives that were new to him. 

(At least he was _fun._) 

It was a familiar loneliness for Light—but he knew that idiots could be useful. It was just frustrating sometimes that he had to constantly rely on the fools around him— 

**_I’m sorry, Light. I didn’t want to move you but he did have a point about the police showing up—And… I wouldn’t have gone with them if I thought we couldn't trust them._**

Light cringed slightly at the reminder that Ryuk could hear his thoughts. As useful as it was, he’d probably never get used to that. 

_Yeah… you did good, Ryuk. I don’t see it yet, but I trust your judgment on this. And... I’m sorry you had to hear all that. I guess I’m still not used to sharing my headspace. I don’t think you’re—I mean, you’re not as dumb as most people I know… knew. Shit. I’m sorry._

**_You don’t have to apologize, Light. I know you’re so much smarter than me and well, living like that—it’s completely understandable. I never really got on with the other Shinigami either. Things that interested me never interested them. _**

Light visibly relaxed in relief that Ryuk hadn’t taken offense by the direction of his thoughts and casually stroked the tendrils that lovingly coiled around his wrist.

Across the table Eddie and V observed the kid who seemed absurdly deep in thought as he politely poked at his pizza. The kid’s eyes briefly flashed pupilless yellow-red—a tell-tale sign that he and his symbiote were in silent communication. 

**_Their symbiosis appears to be going well._**

_Yes, but why so secretive? They know they can talk here, right? I mean, we already know what they are? There’s no reason to hide it here._

Eddie puzzled to himself. Of course Venom could hear his thoughts but Eddie found it took more effort to communicate silently and concisely with Venom than it did to just talk to them out loud most of the time. 

Eddie noticed then what Venom had noticed—the way the teen scrutinized them with open suspicion, he was still seemingly on edge, though he hid it well. 

“…We’re not gonna hurt you, kid,” he said quietly. 

The kid visibly relaxed and ate his pizza and so Eddie relaxed…

**_It’s an act,_** Venom observed. 

_What do you mean, V?_

**_He’s just as vigilant as when he first woke up. He simply changed his body language to put YOU at ease._**

_Oh Jesus! What happened to you, kid?_

**_I could find out? And… Maybe they’re hiding something else?_** Venom wondered. 

_V, no._ Eddie scolded before focusing his attention on their guests. “So… uh, you got a name, kid or should we just call you Dragon?” 

It hadn’t escaped Light’s notice how Eddie was watching them, his gaze sharp and discerning. 

_Brock... he's not as foolish as he portrays himself to be. We’ll have to be careful about what we say around them._

**“I bet you I could find out, Eddie! If he won’t tell us!”**

Eddie winced as he noticed the kid looked distinctly uncomfortable at that announcement and he had every right to be. That was a hell of an invasion of privacy. 

“I’m sure that’s not necessary, V—” Eddie insisted.

While as hosts, he knew privacy was a myth for the both of them. But it was still rude and all the more reason to preserve privacy and boundaries wherever they could. 

**“It’s Rai—huh?”**

_Shit!_ Light’s eyes widened in poorly hidden panic. The last thing they needed was a psychic alien digging around in their heads. _All the more reason to get the hell out of here…_

Venom blinked as Dragon somehow forcibly shut them out. 

**_Don’t worry—I can keep them out now,_** Ryuk assured.

Light suppressed a smirk as he felt a swell of relief that whatever Ryuk was doing seemed to be working. Still it was concerning enough that Venom almost got “Raito” out of him. 

“It’s _Ryan,_” Light said offhandedly as he offered his hand to shake in western style greeting. “Ryan Yamamoto. Nice to meet you,” He said smiling politely and closed-mouthed to conceal the fangs he felt elongating in his mouth. Light had since realized Ryuk instinctively produced when they were under threat, perhaps an evolutionary advantage in other situations but right now it was just inconvenient as Light was just contemplating writing the man’s name. He’d just demonstrated he could be a threat. Feelings aside, he should eliminate him… 

Then again, it wasn’t _Eddie_ that had tried to get into his head. It was his nosey symbiote that was the potential problem. 

Light winced; it was harder to look cool and unaffected by the psychic attack when he’d managed to turn his pizza into paste, tomato sauce smeared all over his hand. He froze when the symbiote that had just tried to violate his mind slithered over and licked the tomato sauce off his hand with elongated tongue. 

“V!” Eddie snapped, scandalized. 

**“What? He wasn’t eating it!”**

“That was rude, V,” Eddie scolded 

**“The pizza? Or trying to find out their damn name?”** Venom pouted. 

_“Both!”_

**“But… they’re our spawn!”**

Eddie massaged his forehead in exasperation. “You said you were interested in doing things the human way, right?" 

**“But… I want to know them! He wouldn’t even tell us his name?”**

“You want them to trust us? To have a good relationship with your kid? Well, trust goes both ways, you know," Eddie hissed, "You don’t go digging around in people’s heads. Not even your spawn’s. Not without permission!” 

**“Oh. I-I’m sorry, Dragon… Ryan. I won’t do it again. Not without permission.”**

"I'm so sorry..." Eddie began, but noticed that the kid didn't seem particularly put off by Venom's behavior. At least nothing was betrayed by his poker face. He only seemed to be watching their exchange, utterly bemused. 

_Dammit…_ Light snarled mentally, annoyed with himself. Ryuk mentally slithered away from Light's internal rage, trying to give him what space there was to be had to work this out for himself. Light kind of liked Eddie. And given it seemed he could reign in Venom it was better to keep him alive…

“I… It’s fine,” Light insisted. 

**_...He's lying. It's not fine._**

_Yep._

Eddie could remember being young and vulnerable, pretending everything is alright, trying to appease the adults around him even though they never protected him—

Venom let out a rumbling growl again at that. **“We’ll protect you!”** They vowed. They thought they were of one mind on this but he realized he really should have asked Eddie first. 

Eddie was right—the permission thing was important. 

**_…We we’ll protect him, right Eddie?_**

_Oh definitely!_

The kid seemed visibly taken aback by the sudden, heartfelt declaration. 

“Ah, sorry… I know he can be a bit… intense. That’s just Venom’s way of saying he likes you. You’re safe here.” 

"You'll protect..." Light paused as he remembered something else they'd said _“…your kid?”_ _Ryuk… how exactly did this come about?_

Ryuk recoiled, nervous about what Light would think of his decisions, but showed him the memory of what happened anyway. 

Meanwhile Eddie tried to awkwardly explain. “Well, uh, damn this is awkward. Well you see, uh your symbiote…” 

“Huh?” _Oh no, did they notice that Ryuk is…?_

“Um… he’s Venom’s spawn.” 

Light blinked. “_Oh_… uh, okay?” 

They’d known this, but Light guessed that Eddie hadn’t known they’d known this—either that or assumed that Ryuk hadn’t already shared that information.

Light hadn’t expected that to mean anything—they weren’t family, he knew Eddie didn't owe him anything, and from what they’d learned from the alien genetic memory Klyntar didn’t have family structures as humans did. 

“So, uh… we’d like to help you with that… just getting in the swing of the whole symbiote thing, if you’d like? I mean, we know it can be a little overwhelming… “ 

**“We could teach you how to hunt bad guys!”** Venom offered, excitedly. 

“V, _please—_” Eddie cringed, surely more discretion was in order—that was a delicate subject that should be approached with caution—especially regarding someone new to this. He might not even want to do that, sticking to a chocolate-only diet. But to Eddie’s surprise that proclamation hadn’t freaked the kid out. If anything he seemed kind of intrigued.

It was to Eddie’s surprise, but not to Venom’s. **_Yes… knew you’d like that._**

_What?!_ Eddie blinked, utterly lost at the silent byplay going on between Venom and the kid. Just what was he missing? 

“Uh, I really hope you don’t mind, Ryan. V, he just… really wants to get to know his family.” 

_Ryuk, this…_

Ryuk could tell it was taking all of Light’s self-control not to burst out cackling out loud. He coiled around him protectively, tense as he awaited Light’s decision—he liked Venom and Eddie, but ultimately whatever Light decided was what they would do. 

_This is perfect!_ Light couldn’t stop the big (slightly fanged) grin from spreading across his, _their_ face. 

_No, I got to rein it in,_ Light thought to himself suppressing the mad laughter that threatened to bubble up from his throat, _But how would a typical teen react to such an offer? _

“Oh, uh… _cool!_”

_Well, that was surprisingly painless,_ thought Eddie as he observed how Ryan beamed, eyes flashing red as he communicated with his symbiote with giddy mental whispers. 

Eddie and Venom were just pleased that the kid seemed happy.

_Oh Ryuk, I’m sorry I ever doubted you. I can’t believe our good fortune—this was just the in we were looking for!”_


	10. In This World There Are Very Few People Who Actually Trust Each Other (Part III)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Here's the next bit of the megachapter. I hope to get out more soon.

**_The Beach, Before_**

Light had had more than his fill of roughing it on the beach and it was past time to rejoin civilization. After much experimenting, they went with a tourist look—Ryuk forming a vibrant red and yellow aloha shirt, with black palm trees and khakis—which was all-together not too different from what Light would normally wear. 

When the morning fog had cleared and the iconic Golden Gate Bridge had come into view it had answered the question as to where they were. 

Light was making plans accordingly. 

Light could speak English fluently but he wasn’t confident that it wouldn’t sound a bit foreign to native speakers—so it was best to pass himself off as a tourist for now, at least until he got his bearings as he figured out not just where to go from here but also himself—_themselves(?)_—and his new partnership with Ryuk out. The notion that he was wearing Ryuk was still quite bizarre but Light was already pleased at the notion that he could save a fortune on clothes and it appealed to his vanity that even when washing up on a beach on another continent he could be his usual best-dressed self with next to zero effort. 

Completing the tourist look, Ryuk had formed a wide-brimmed red Stetson hat which both protected from the blaring sun and as an added bonus would help to conceal his features from the CCTV security cameras so long as he kept his head down. Light knew he was probably being paranoid—it was unlikely that L’s eyes were _everywhere_ but, just to play it safe he should assume they were and that his “friend” could somehow anticipate the impossible since he had seemed to have managed it so far, dogging him every step of the way. 

But surely not even L, as formidable an opponent as he was, could monitor every camera on Earth at all times and he had no reason to look for him here… but that could change once he became active as Kira again so… no reason to make it easy for him. 

He’d have to be careful. 

But it was okay, he’d learned since the beginning and he could use the notebook in more creative ways now. 

He’d use international news sources for Kira, conceal any local kills with deaths other than heart attacks. That ought to conceal his location from L for the time-being—at least until Light came up with a new course of action. 

Of course, he could have done all that before, but Light had had no intention of hiding before. He’d _wanted_ the world to know he was there. It had begun as a last desperate cry of a damned, dying man: ‘I existed, I was here, and my life though brief had meaning to this world.’ 

That was the whole point of Kira—to eliminate evil in the brief time he’d thought he’d had since picking up an actual, real, cursed notebook because if his soul was forfeit anyway he might as well go out in a blaze of glory and take out all the monsters with him. 

And then when Ryuk arrived and told him there was no real cost, well, he was never one to leave his work half-finished. He could only finish what he started…

He hadn’t even known at the time that someone like L existed. 

Someone who could actually give him a challenge. 

Someone who was actually on his level… 

Someone who might actually beat him… best him, _trick him_—Light still had difficulty comprehending that. 

He was always the smartest in the room.

Always the best. 

Always the brightest. 

(Always so alone…) 

**_Light…_**

_What is it, Ryuk?_

**_Please… don’t be sad._**

Light paused in his steps. 

_I… I’m not?_ He insisted while outwardly planting a smile on his face. 

He didn’t really understand why Ryuk thought he was. 

After all, this was exactly what he’d intended. 

Yes, he couldn’t see L again, but… 

_He couldn’t see L again._

Light swallowed a sudden lump in his throat and ignored the tightness in his chest—reasoning it must have just been Ryuk settling in beneath his skin. After all, there was no rational reason to be upset that he wouldn’t be seeing his greatest enemy again. 

Of course if he wished he was sure he could send the detective hints. Let him know that he was still… 

_No._

L couldn’t find him again. He just _couldn’t_. All these irrational impulses should be cast aside entirely. Or failing that shoved into a box in a corner of his mind, locked up tight to never again see the light of day. Because if L found him again, he’d be back to square one and all the pain he and Ryuk had gone through would have been for nothing. He’d be boxed in again with either having to kill L or allow himself to be captured and killed… 

That was unacceptable. 

Well, he’d almost be back at square one… At least they’d ditched Misa and Rem. 

That was something. 

Light allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief at that—even if things hadn’t gone exactly as he’d planned at least he didn’t have to worry about Misa stalking him any longer and Rem couldn’t very well make demands of a dead man... 

It certainly wasn't for lack of _their_ presence that he felt this creeping loneliness—

**_You’re not alone,_** Ryuk interjected, the thought infused with a feeling of _warmth/devotion/belonging_ that made Light’s breath hitch. **_I’M here._**

“And I appreciate it, Ryuk, I really do…” Light swallowed again, once more trying to force down these feelings—so overwhelming and yet unnamed. “You know I wouldn’t even be here without you. I just…” he let out a bitter laugh, “Just being emo I guess. I can’t believe I’m still hung up on… I guess I can’t get past the irony that the only other human being to ever understand me was fated to be my worst enemy.” He truly did appreciate having Ryuk there, letting him rant to a sympathetic ear. Light let out a huff of frustration before casually kicking a piece of trash—a discarded beer can—that was lying in the sand. They both winced as the can went soaring across the beach much further than expected. 

_“WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!”_ someone cursed loudly from the other end of the beach. 

Light briskly resumed his walk into town, though taking care not to seem suspicious in his retreat. 

Not that anyone would suspect him, surely. That can had really sailed, clear to the other end of the beach—surely that was beyond the range of what a human could do… 

_“MOTHERFUCKER! WHO THE FUCK FUCKING THREW THAT?!_

Light’s eyes widened in horror and Ryuk felt his heart skip a beat. 

_Oh shit!_

When Light seemed frozen, Ryuk urged him to move as the angry shouting sounded like it was getting closer.

_“CAN’T A GUY ENJOY A BREAKFAST BURRITO AND A RANDOM CAMEO IN PEACE WITHOUT THIS SORT OF SHIT HAPPENING? HUH? CAN’T I HAVE JUST A NICE DAY FOR ONCE? IT WENT RIGHT THROUGH MY FUCKING HEAD!_

_**_Nope,_** They didn’t yet see the shouting man but they already knew they didn’t want to stick around to meet them. The last thing they needed was to tangle with another crazy. _

__

__

_"LIGHT?!"_

Ryuk forced Light's blood to keep flowing and prevented the incoming heart attack. 

_No! No no no no no! There was no way...!_ No, he couldn't have been recognized—no one knew him here! 

_”IT’S NOT EVEN THE GOOD BEER—!”_

**_Light beer—he means Light beer!_**

_Oh! Ha. Ha ha ha! Of course. Wait, shit, is he coming this way... Is that a SWORD?! SHIT! Oh SHIT! Let's get out of here!_

**_No argument here!_**

They moved with greater alacrity away from the shouter, putting more distance between them and the scene of the crime, sneakers that were technically all symbiote eating up the distance. They only really allowed themselves to relax once they’d reached the relatively anonymity of the charming cobblestone streets of the beachside commercial district. 

They didn't think they'd been seen by whoever the fuck that was but Ryuk made some subtle changes to their appearance just in case. He subtly changed the pattern on Light's shirt, making it a more vibrant shade of red, the black palm tree pattern turning into a pattern of highly stylized dragons. 

(Ryuk purred in approval at his own handiwork—He kind of like that design better on Light anyway.)

**_…We’re stronger together._** Ryuk idly commented once Light had caught his breath. 

Light wondered if this was still meant to be part of his motivational pep talk or simply statement of fact. **_“…Faster too.”_**

“Yeah… We’ll have to be more careful in the future…” Light muttered to himself but trailed off when he noticed the few people wandering by. It was early in the morning yet but there were a few people out and about, jogging or walking their dogs. But that wasn’t what really had captured Light’s attention. No, it was the glowing red names and numbers floating above their heads… 

_Ryuk… Why do I have the Eyes? I didn’t… I didn’t make the deal, did I?_

**_No. It’s because _I_ have the Eyes. And I’m sharing my power with you. Everything that is mine, everything that I am… it’s now yours._**

_“Oh…”_ Light felt face heating up at that pronouncement, sincerely touched by Ryuk’s words and the feelings that surrounded it. “I… thank you,” he said, awkwardly, though that really felt insufficient. What did one say to something like _that?_ “I… that will come in very handy,” he muttered aloud, already knowing he was failing to match his companion’s feelings and eloquence but afraid he might embarrass himself if he tried to send his thought’s Ryuk’s way just then. 

“I really do appreciate it—” Light cut himself off mid-sentence when a morning jogger, a woman walking a large dog, began to pass by near them. 

The dog put its ears back and snarled at him, straining at its leash and letting out a roaring series of barks that promised violence. 

_“Rex, what the hell has gotten into you?!”_ The woman scolded, giving him an embarrassed look that Light thought might also be tinged with suspicion. 

Light simply smiled awkwardly and went about his way. 

“Well, that’s new…” 

**_Maybe it was smelling the symbiote? It’s smelling… me?_**

Light frowned. He didn’t doubt that all of this was confusing to Ryuk too. He unconsciously rubbed with his thumb against his opposite wrist at where Ryuk had chosen to manifest outside his skin, coiling around his wrist in red and black vines like a bracelet right next to the watch. Ryuk’s substance was surprisingly smooth and the tactile sensations seemed to go far to reassure both of them. 

_This could be a problem… Can you fix it?_

**_I’m sorry—I don’t even know what I smell like… Can you smell me?_**

_No. But dogs have a much better sense of smell than humans do. And…_ Light realized,_ it might not even be you—it might have been smelling blood._

There had been so much blood—his blood, Kassady’s blood, running in rivulets, all mixed together. 

A dip in the ocean was probably insufficient to completely wipe the smell away … 

Then he’d gone wandering through a crash site full of smoldering human remains. 

Damn, he must _reek…_

Light stopped to discreetly sniff himself—he didn’t smell anything other than a bit sweaty but maybe he’d become desensitized to the stench.

“…We need a proper shower and I’ll pick up some heavy cologne when we go shopping. Hopefully that will help.” 

**_…We?_**

Light flushed slightly, “Yeah, _we_.” 

His thoughts then tinged with excitement at the prospect of showering together for more reasons than just getting clean— 

No, he really needed to get his mind out of the gutter—he had a guest in there now, dammit! And Ryuk might not even be up for that now and he didn’t want to make things uncomfortable for both of them. It shouldn’t be awkward unless he made it awkward. It’s not like he hadn’t attended public bath houses and showered with other men before. 

Hell, he wasn’t even sure if _he_ was up for anything like that right now. After the crap they’d just gone through, just showering and then sleeping for a week sounded most appealing. He was probably artificially running on adrenaline and… whatever this symbiosis thing was doing to his body. They probably should figure themselves out regarding that before making any other plans—fun or otherwise. 

But all of that would have to wait because as they walked by a coffee shop they suddenly found they were hungry again. 

_Seriously? We’re hungry again? After we ate all that fish? All those snacks I had packed and… and… and you ate a whole ass person! I hope this isn’t how it’s going to be for now on._

**_You’re still healing, Light. We need the fuel. Once you’re healed I imagine you’ll still have a bigger appetite than you did before but it won’t be like this for long, promise. What? Worried about your figure?_**, Ryuk snickered, **_You could eat a whole ass cow and not gain any weight._**

_Yeah, the secret is tapeworms…_ came the sarcastic response from Light’s mind and he immediately felt mortified that Ryuk heard it. It was the sort of sarcastic retort he would have held back in verbal conversation but censoring his thoughts was proving harder to do._ Um… no offense._

Ryuk cackled in the back of his head.** _None taken. Although…_** Ryuk continued thoughtfully, _** I’ll have you know that in this form I’m less of a parasite than I was as a Shinigami—**_

_Oh, I don’t doubt that,_ Light thought back, more gently. _I… Ryuk, you’re not a parasite. Even when you were a Shinigami. You’re my…_ Light frowned—‘best friend’ felt insufficient now. (_What ARE we…?_) Ryuk really had gone above and beyond for him. And this bond certainly felt more intimate than just friendship… 

Dammit, feelings were confusing and not something he needed to examine right now (or preferably ever.) In any case he was pretty sure they had like fifty other more pressing priorities. 

_You’re MINE._ He simply settled on for now, though he was surprised at himself (and hoped Ryuk wasn’t turned off) by just how vehement and possessive that sounded even in his own head. 

Ryuk chuckled warmly. _**Yeah… that I am.**_

Light breathed a sigh of relief that Ryuk didn’t seem to be upset by his rather awkward mental declaration. Surely he deserved all the apples for putting up with his awkwardness… but right now they had a sudden and very specific craving for chocolate. Which was strange—he’d never had much of a sweet tooth before. Perhaps it was a product of their changed biology. It was something to further look into later. 

For now they’d simply focus on getting food and… 

And that data they’d lifted from the crash site was burning a metaphorical hole in his pocket. Surely it was just waiting to be read by him… and Light was all-too happy to oblige. 


	11. Light, no.

**_The Boardwalk Coffee Shop, before_**

Light sat them down in an obscured corner of the café with a hot chocolate and an absurdly huge apple strudel which he let Ryuk get to work on with his tentacles (it was private enough, the café was partitioned off by large planters giving them relative privacy and Ryuk was being careful to stay hidden as well) and Light began setting up better cyber protections as a precaution before accessing the copied files on his phone. 

And as he reviewed the files a whole new world unfolded before his eyes.

First came the shocking realization that _he_ had changed.

As he was lazily speed reading through files he came to realize he was absorbing the information at a frightening rate, even for him. He’d always had an excellent memory but now it seemed he only had to glance at the page and he could remember every word with perfect recall. 

_…Ryuk?_

**_Yeah, I think I can explain. Uh… Klyntar? They don’t just copy powers. They also enhance their host’s natural talents and abilities._**

Light stifled the mad broken cackles building up inside of him as he realized what this meant both for who he _had been_ (and his world tilted on its axis) and who they could be… no _would be_ going forward. 

The notion of what Ryuk was suggesting—that he wasn’t already the pinnacle of human intellect that he’d envisioned himself to be—was very disturbing to him but he recovered himself quickly enough. 

Light supposed that he was just so used to being at the top of his class that he didn’t even realize he _had_ any room for improvement, his ever-present boredom and dissatisfaction with life had instilled in him a laziness which he only now realized had been holding him back, rendering him incurious and limiting any further potential for personal growth. 

After all, why bother learning if you already knew everything? But after this afternoon—perhaps he didn’t know everything after all. Or at the very least he’d been given bad information and he should realign his priorities accordingly. 

After all how could he hope to be an impartial judge if his view of the world had been limited by the constraints of others? 

He might be a God but that didn’t mean there wasn’t room for improvement. 

This was good. Improvement was good. (Even if it was a serious blow to his ego.) 

But now it seemed there was a whole world out there he’d been blind to, or been kept blind to… 

He still intended to pursue his goals for a better world—he’d come too far to stop now—but with this in mind, he would try to keep an open mind going forward… 

***

By the time Light had finished going through the SHIELD files he was pale and shaking, and clearly not from forgetting to eat. (Even if he neglected it, Ryuk was doing it for him.) 

It had been eye-opening, to say the least. 

Knowing the sorts of things that were out there… that would uncaring and instantly obliterate his world—that raised the stakes. He knew then, though he was still committed to his goals, that simply killing criminals wasn’t going to cut it anymore. 

Evidently superhumans existed and there had been multiple alien invasions. 

He’d heard next to none of this in Japan. 

Well, maybe there’d been whispers but anything like this had been relegated to tabloid garbage—many of these accounts were just so unbelievable that under normal circumstances Light wouldn’t have even entertained the idea that any of them could have been true. 

He probably wouldn’t have been inclined to believe them even now had he and Ryuk not encountered Carnage… 

The intelligence he’d stolen certainly treated both aliens and superhumans as a credible threat and if this brief was to be believed, the United States had been invaded by aliens at least twice within the last ten years—once in New York and more recently in San Francisco… 

_…Why America, I wonder?_

Not that he was hoping for an invasion in his own backyard but it was odd that these aliens treated America as the only place on Earth that existed. 

Ryuk did the mental equivalent of a shrug before sending out a discreet, camouflaged tentacle towards their recently purchased bag of apples. 

** _If it makes ya feel better, Shinigami tend to prefer Japan._ **

_Why is that?_

**_I dunno. We got history there, I guess._**

_…Huh… Could it be that? Aliens have a history in America? Or it could be just a coincidence. One of those things that just doesn’t make sense… and to think we heard none of this in Japan… this is why independent journalism is important, Ryuk. I can hardly judge fairly without it. I wonder what else I missed— I really should check the local paper to make sure there was no one I missed…_

**_Oi, Light-o! Remember that L will find you if ya kill someone only mentioned in the local news._**

“…Dammit, yeah. I remember.” 

Of course, he’d known that. It’s just he couldn’t help but be a bit excited about the prospect of finding and eliminating some of the scumbags that he’d missed before. 

The reminder was like getting drenched in ice water—If he wanted to kill them or, specifically, if he wanted to kill them as _Kira_ he’d first have to kill L… which was simply out of the question. 

The detective was definitely off-limits—whether he knew it or not, and whether he appreciated it or not, L would be under Kira’s protection… 

_Dammit… Well I can still eliminate them by means other than a heart attack. But… that might be too risky now. I’m trying to stay hidden and if any of the conditions are impossible to meet it will default to a heart attack… shit._

**_Well… you and I both know there’s more than one way to make humans disappear._**

Light grunted in affirmation. That was true—though he rather disliked how messy and dangerous that method was, he supposed he _could_ let Ryuk eat them—though he’d really rather not have to resort to that. It lacked the godly elegance of the Death Note, not to mention that performing such actions ran a greater risk of getting caught. 

Getting caught—that always meant death and/or degradation. But the risks had seemed acceptable when he was just going up against the police, and later L. It was still worth it, of course—anything was worth it for a better world—but back then he hadn’t known of the existence of superhumans. Naively thinking he was the only power around (as he should be—was he not God?), save for the Shinigami who were, for the most part, uncaring of human affairs. 

Light realized, with dawning horror, that being ignorant of what lay beyond his sheltered, insulated view of the world and then proceeding as he had as Kira could have killed him. 

Hell, it _still_ could, if he was discovered. If say, the Avengers took an interest in him he would be so very _fucked._

He had to eliminate them first. 

Light fumed as he read more and more about this vigilante team that seemingly answered to no one. They didn’t deserve to wield the power that they held—only Kira was worthy to mete out true justice.

He needed to eliminate them _all._

_All these superhumans_—they were a threat to his future utopia. They had to go. 

He already knew that this would prove difficult—most superhumans used aliases. With Ryuk’s eyes that wouldn’t be a problem if he ever happened upon one except many of them _also_ wore masks. Getting them to oh-so-graciously unmask for him could prove to be quite a nuisance… 

This would require further study.

Ryuk did the mental equivalent of a sigh and prepared himself for another long haul of filtering caffeine through Light’s system and keeping watch over them as Light once again became engrossed in his research. 

***

Light blanched as he delved further into the files and it began to dawn on him that superhumans really were just the tip of the iceberg—that there was a whole universe of horrors he hadn’t (_couldn’t have possibly_) accounted for… 

Ryuk could feel Light’s pulse spike and the sweat leak from his pores as he read something especially unsettling. He wanted to ask what was wrong but Light was clearly hyper-focused on his task, only pausing in his reading to order them more hot chocolate and apple deserts. 

Ryuk didn’t mind the apples but he wished he could just eliminate whatever was upsetting his human. 

Light took a steadying breath and closed the document and with deliberate care placed his phone down on the table with a shaking hand—successfully resisting the urge to fling it with great force against the nearest wall. 

He just stared at the blank screen for a moment. 

Part of him wished he’d never read these things. Part of him wanted to question the veracity of the information—which he did, but given how he’d happened upon it and his own recent experiences he couldn’t discount it out of hand.

He’d already encountered one of these superhumans. 

Technically, he supposed he even _was_ one. 

And the most upsetting things he read were further verified when he tentatively asked Ryuk about them. Between the Shinigami’s own experiences and the Klyntar genetic memories he was able to verify most of the horrors listed in these documents as well as some brand new ones. 

Now he was _really_ wishing he’d never asked. 

But that wouldn’t do any good. These things existed whether he knew about them or not—better to know about them. 

Knowledge was power, after all. Or so he’d believed. 

He took a fortifying sip of his cocoa and picked up his phone again. 

He’d read on—he needed to find out as much about these threats as possible because if he wanted to reign effectively as Kira they too would have to be eliminated… 

***

Light sagged in defeat, while nursing at a half-empty cocoa mug. (It was odd—he’d never had much of a sweet tooth but he suddenly couldn’t get enough chocolate.) 

Even after going through many files and gaining all this new knowledge and yet his shining utopia never seemed farther away.

Ryuk felt Light’s distress and longed to coil around him in comfort but feared that would be too obvious in a semi-public setting. He was already doing as much as he thought he could get away with, coiling gently beneath his sleeves.

And, well, _being_ his clothes. 

Ryuk soon realized it wasn’t _just_ the existence of cosmic horrors that was upsetting him. 

_….Are you kidding me? ….WHY? Why am I the only one who ever gets screwed over? I mean, look at Wolverine—How many people has he killed? STABBED TO DEATH? You don’t see him getting hunted as a serial killer, Iron Man is a walking war crime—so many of these guys have leveled cities in their petty fights. You can’t tell me there were no casualties and… did I read that right? That woman ate a SUN?!_

Ryuk rumbled in agreement because he found that Light was right about this—he found that humans were rather hypocritical about these things. It hardly mattered what banner of justice was being used to justify it—dead was still dead. 

**_Well, the kids love them…_** He mused. 

Light flushed in embarrassment. He still wasn’t used to sharing his headspace. These were more thoughts that he would never have voiced aloud. He was aware he was being petulant and, (dare he even think) _whiney and childish_. He knew that bitching about how unfair his life was, even in what was once the privacy of his own head, wasn’t exactly a godly look. 

But Ryuk seemed sympathetic, his thoughts devoid of mockery, and so Light was encouraged to keep ranting because really, it _was_ unfair. Even if he might have enjoyed playing with one of the detectives that had pursued him the very principle of it was unjust—that so many of these capes were killers but never experienced any sort of consequences for it, not like he did, and instead were freely given all the praise and accolades that he so desperately desired… 

_Then why don’t more of them support Kira when he’s functionally doing the same thing?_

**_Yeah… I don’t get it either. Maybe it’s the snazzy costumes?_**

_… You think it’s just a matter of P.R.?_

Maybe Ryuk had a point. Maybe people just didn’t form the same emotional attachments to an invisible Godly force for justice that they did with masked men in spandex beating the shit out of criminals. 

But in any case… 

_…I’m not wearing tights._

**_Pity… You’d look good in them._**

Light flushed again slightly, but opted not to respond to that for now—because even when sharing a headspace, he wasn’t sure if Ryuk was joking around or not and in any case was too preoccupied by what he’d learned this afternoon to pursue that line of thought any further. 

He sorely missed thinking he was the most powerful human on the planet. If his source was to be believed then it seemed that just wasn’t so… even if he was the only true God and the only true good in this rotten world... 

_Dammit… I want to get rid of these threats. I can’t hope to reign over a new world until I’ve eliminated them all. Only Kira is fit to judge and all these superhumans will doubtlessly get in my way. They are a threat to my new world and Kira’s law but…but I CAN’T even think of getting rid of them until— GODAMMIT!_

He missed the simplicity of his original plan, though it was borne of ignorance. 

If only it was as simple as just killing evil as had been his original plan when, assuming he was doomed anyway for ignorantly playing with a cursed Shinigami notebook, he’d taken to writing as many names of awful people in the notebook as he could—so he could at least do some good, make some mark on the world, before he succumbed to his fate. 

But then he’d had to live with it—a Hell of his own making. 

So he’d rolled with it. 

He would reshape this hellish world into a paradise. 

But the world was more complicated than he had ever dreamed. 

As much as he saw the world in black and white he did understood nuance, and unintended consequences. 

As much as he wished to eliminate them it seemed the superhumans were a necessary evil—at least for now because many of these so-called “heroes” were all that stood between the world and total annihilation… which was an utterly terrifying thought.

Many of these individuals were quite messed up in Light’s estimation—they were corrupt, they were thieves and arms dealers, murderers and war criminals—they certainly didn’t deserve the honor to be called “heroes” by any estimation but they were all the Earth had. 

_ All the more reason why they shouldn’t exist—just out of general principle. Unfortunately unless we get rid of the bigger threats first, there won’t be a world left to rule._

** _So… uh, maybe we should just uh, give it a rest? Lay low for a while?_ **

_I mean, unless we can kill Dormamu—_

Ryuk’s alarm nearly caused them to choke on their apple cobbler. 

_…if he even exists. It seems awfully convenient, really. That there’s a boogeyman out there that means I can’t kill the “superheroes”—_

**_Oh, Dormamu exists, alright._**

_Good, then we can kill him._

**_Light, no._**

_What? It makes sense, doesn’t it? I mean, it would suck pretty hard to finally succeed in creating a world free from evil only for it to be consumed by some cosmic horror deity moments later. I’ve got to kill Dormamu and those other things that want to eat the Earth. Then and only then can I look into getting rid of the others—but until then I need to find a way to gain control of these superhumans. Hell, if I can control them maybe I won’t even need to eliminate them. It would be ideal if I didn’t have to kill them, if I could have them and the police working on Kira’s behalf… but we know that won’t happen. There will always be some detractors. We should be prepared for that now… and be mentally prepared to kill them all._

**_Yeah…Sure, Light. Killing L was too hard but let’s just go kill God—_**

Light scowled slightly. _L wasn’t too hard. I could have killed him if I wanted to. Besides…_ he grinned, holding back a laugh, _Why would I want to kill God?_ He laughed, _You’re talking to him._

Ryuk let out a nervous cackle which Light felt vibrating in his bones. 

Even in the midst of all the horror Ryuk had felt at Light’s genuine confidence that he could somehow find a way to kill something like Dormmamu he couldn’t help but be somewhat charmed by him as well. 

**_I don’t doubt it, really. But Dormamu’s gonna be a bit more difficult than an annoying human, don’t you think?_**

Light sighed, _Yes, Ryuk. I’m aware that it will be more difficult, but I’m sure we’ll think of something. Don’t tell me you’re scared?_

**_You’d be a fool not to be,_** Ryuk cautioned, **_Most Shinigami won’t even speak it’s name._**

_What you think I’m just going to waltz in there and stab him with a pen? Of course we won’t do anything without a plan!_

**_Yeah… Light? You know I have the utmost confidence in you, but I don’t think even YOU can plan the demise of something like that…_** Ryuk felt like kicking himself as soon as he though it—of course Light would take that as a challenge. **_Please Light? What these humans said about it… that’s not even scratching the surface. Dormamu is known as the Consumer of Realities for a reason. He could erase you from existence—not even just dead but completely annihilated. As if you never were. Please, for both our sakes—don’t fuck with it!_**

Hearing the alarm in the one-Shinigami’s voice actually gave Light pause. Alright, he’d table Dormamu—at least for now but that meant he was still left with another major, more immediate problem. 

_…Well then, what am I supposed to do with all these superhumans, Ryuk? If I’m to succeed at my goals I can’t allow this to continue—it’s unsustainable. I can’t have anyone finding out who I am. And I don’t know about you but I’d rather not end up dead or assaulted or—I mean, I’d rather not get my ass kicked, okay?_

**_So you think to challenge Dormamu instead? Yes, because that makes perfect sense._**

_It does, because if I kill Dormamu, I won’t need the supers and I can find a way to eliminate them all!_

Ryuk barely resisted the urge to slap a tentacle across their shared forehead in frustration before remembering that they were in a semi-public place and he didn’t want Light getting discovered again through his carelessness but it turned out even in his restraint Light clearly felt his exasperation through their bond. 

_Ryuk, what is it?_

**_Not everything has to die, you know,_** Ryuk groaned in realization. **_Fuck… This is my fault._**

Even if Light was a bit warped beforehand, exposure to the Death Note wasn’t exactly conductive to a developing human brain—even the brain of a genius of Light’s caliber. When you have the power of death at your fingertips, inevitably “Kill it” becomes the go-to solution for everything… 

**_Dormamu isn’t even the only what-the-fuck out there, you know. There’s probably even worse things out in the depths of the cosmos. I’m sorry, Light. Unless we’re suddenly granted omnipotence you’re stuck with them… and the superhumans._**

“Well, _dammit..._ This _sucks!_” Light hissed under his breath in lieu of screaming. He also hadn’t lost awareness of his surroundings and was aware that having a symbiote-powered temper tantrum in a coffee shop wouldn’t be the best way to keep a low profile. 

He always knew there was a danger to what he was doing as Kira but having to deal with this? This put his entire plan in jeopardy. How was he supposed to rule over the world now when his place in it suddenly seemed so small? 

(_Helpless—_) 

** _Hey… Light? Light, it’s okay…_ **

Ryuk feared this was his fault too, at least in part—the Death Note had clearly given him a false sense of security and the notion that so many things were outside of his control was very upsetting to him.

As Ryuk gently prodded at the other’s consciousness he recoiled in surprise. Now he saw the root of it all as he came up against something deeply repressed in the back of his human’s mind that manifested howling red and bloody. 

Ryuk felt his respect for Light rising again when slithering, coiled and camouflaged around Light’s shoulders; he noticed how none of that inner maelstrom of horror and pain manifested on his face, save for maybe a slightly haunted look in his eyes. 

He didn’t dare touch it for fear of making things worse. He instantly knew he was way out of his depth—this wasn’t the kind of wound he knew how to fix from the Klyntar memories. It was so frustrating, even so bonded that he couldn’t really help him there—all he could do was send some happy chemicals his way and hope for the best. 

But he could soothe.

**_…Light, you are a God._**

_“What?”_ Light quickly schooled his shocked expression back into one of neutrality and took a delicate sip of their cocoa. 

**_You already are a God in all the ways that count. You are to me—you don’t have to prove anything to anyone. Not here. Never again. Not if you don’t want to. Just be you. That’s enough._**

“I…”

**_You’re AMAZING and… and I’d rather you not die, okay? So why don’t we just concentrate on what we can do right now. Just like… rent a beach house or something. The world can wait._**

_Of course... But I want to do this for me. I know this situation is untenable but I want to continue what I’ve started for as long as I can. I vowed to bring the new world. I can hardly stop now just because things are getting hard. I know I can’t do anything about this right this minute, Ryuk. But… I need to keep trying. Please. I have to!_

**_…Okay._**

“Okay?” 

**_You know I’d rather you not kill yourself. I will do my best to help you avoid that. But in any event you know I’ll be there for every step of the way._**

“Ryuk, I… Thank you. You…” Light swallowed around a lump in his throat as he felt the truth of it resonating through their bond, “You don’t know how much that means to me.”

The whole world could be against him but Ryuk would still be there for him—_always._

He’d never had someone like that before—someone he could be more honest with and not worry that he would be repulsed by what he saw. 

Light was always self-conscious of the assigned role he’d been given to play even when it was all too often an ill-fit… He knew there were certain things he had to do, or not do, or never speak of for the sake of his own and his family’s reputation.

Sure he’d had plenty of “friends” at school but no one he’d truly connected with. He was polite of course, and friendly, but even before the Death Note they could never know the real him and often talking to his classmates felt like he was trying to communicate with toddlers. And they worried about such frivolous things. They truly had no idea. No idea what sort of evils existed outside their sheltered walls of the classroom. 

He supposed he could empathize with them a bit more now. Until today he’d had no idea there were reality-eating monsters lurking somewhere in some other dimension. 

Shinigami were one thing but this was on a whole other level. No he’d only known about the mundane human evils that had so marked his own life... 

Perhaps that’s why he’d never _felt_ cursed by the Death Note. Not only could he finally do something about the rotten state of the world but… 

Light had once told L he’d felt the same way when the detective had claimed he was his first friend, but that wasn’t exactly true. Maybe first _human_ “friend,” had they not both been faking that is—simply a private joke between enemies trying to destroy each other. 

(Truly it had meant nothing more. It would be at best foolish and self-destructive to ascribe deeper feelings when surely there were none.) 

But really, his “first friend” came with the notebook… 

_I don’t want to… to die either,_ he thought back awkwardly, not even wanting to think about it. He remembered the Nothing and shuddered. He didn’t want to return to Mu anytime soon. _I do think it’s best to avoid that. But you know that I—I just, I need to…_ Light flushed slightly as he felt Ryuk’s coils subtly constrict around his torso beneath his shirt in the approximation of a hug. _Ryuk… Thank you for understanding,_ he thought with feeling before going right back to plotting. 

_So… If we can’t eliminate the superhumans… than I guess we’re going to have to find a way to game the system somehow in order to work with them—_

Ryuk sighed, **_I suppose that finding a nice beach house and relaxing in the sun with like a basket of apples or something is out of the question?_**

Oh right… He’d been caught up in planning about what countermeasures he might take against a world full of superpowered beings (beings he hadn’t known existed before today, that no doubt would be set against him sooner rather than later…) Light thought that was rather important to deal with but Ryuk was right that they should also take care of more immediate concerns too. 

_No, Ryuk—that DOES sound nice… We can do that—we just don’t want to stick around for too long either. Not unless we want them finding us…_ Light paused as he thought that over again. _…Then again if we let them come to us we don’t have to waste so much energy in finding them…_

Light chuckled softly to himself at the notion of letting his enemies do the work for him before going to pay the bill. 

It was surprisingly steep—they’d eaten more than he realized—but he had the account of siphoned mafia money so they weren’t lacking in funds. 

**_...You never do stop, do you?_**

_Stop what… thinking? I should hope not… Oh. I hope you knew that when… _ Light broached suddenly self-conscious that he was annoying his companion. 

** _Yeah I did, but I didn’t realize it was so much all the time… You’re not annoying me, Light-o. It’s just… WOW. _ **

Light blushed slightly. He was accustomed to meaningless praise but it was different getting complimented on his very thought patterns from the voice now intimately entwined in his head. 

_You were right… We should focus on the here and now. And… I concede that Dormamu might be a bit much but we do need to be proactive about eliminating threats both to us and the world._

**_Yeah, I understand that too._**

_Thanks for understanding… And Ryuk, I’d rather just chill on the beach too, but I AM trying to keep us safe,_ Light explained while exiting the shop.

Ryuk was right, they should start looking for a place to spend the night. And he hadn't forgotten about the need for a shower either... 

**_I know you are… Just… please listen to me about Dormamu, okay?_**

_I am listening! Ryuk, I... I’ve upset you. You’re… you’re worried…? About me?_

** _Of course I am! I... I’m sorry, Light, if I’m being uh… overbearing? This—this is all kind of a new thing for me too?_ **

_Ahh… I understand._

**_…And it’s self preservation too. You may have noticed that we’re in this together now._**

Light paused and leaned against a storefront wall, idly scratched his chin in thought. _How about this, I won’t enact any plans involving cosmic horrors unless we both agree to it—would that put your mind to rest on this?_

**_…It would._**

Light nodded. _Alright, And I won’t go looking for them either. You’re right—the last thing we need is to find any more trouble right now. _

**_Careful. Don’t jinx it._**

Light snorted—who knew a Shinigami could be superstitious? Then again, Ryuk allegedly _was_ a curse himself...

_Don’t you have, like, a magic ward or something for that?_

**_Not everything can be solved with magic, you know. And in any case I’m not even that good at it._**

_Well… you sure could have fooled me._

**_Light, I’ve only been practicing for around five hundred years—_**

Light sputtered, _Five hundred—_

**_Yeah, I’m just an amateur. Like, I’m still learning._** Ryuk chuckled, _**I wish sometimes I could be a master immediately but like, these things take time, you know?**_

_Yeah… I get it._

Patience. 

He could have patience. 

If Ryuk could show such patience than certainly so could he. 


End file.
